What's New In Virus Software For 2014

  Well it's almost 2014 and the new year is fast approaching. So what's new in virus software. Well AVG has come out with improvements with their AVG 2014 Internet Security Version. It now has a privacy fix program that will check for any intrusions. It will help with sites such as facebook, Google and LinkedIn, not to mention others as well. Here is a link to information about it http://www.pcworld.com/article/2048091/avgs-2014-lineup-of-antivirus-and-security-includes-new-web-privacy-protections.html . Their Free AVG 2014 version has been updated as well as the AVG PC Tuneup 2014.
  Kaspersky Antivirus 2014 is also going very strong. It is working with advanced antivirus protection, real time protection and instant safety checks. Here is a link to their website with more information that will help http://www.kaspersky.co.za/anti-virus .
  Avast Antivirus 2014 is still going strong. Their free version does a very good job for being free. Just remember to register it and go to the link in your email and set the password. Avast has a new look, which seems to be more streamlined. I have personally used the free version and it worked really well.
  Another virus software that's rated right up there is Bitdefender. I have never used it, but the ratings are extremely good. It also indicates that it is very easy to use. It apparently does a very good job at removing the virus. One thing it boasts of is not being very intrusive. In other words it will not pop up and give constant messages. All I can say is try it and see for yourself.
  These are just four of the virus programs out there. There are others that seem to be doing very well such as Nortons, Vipre, and Panda.
  Whatever virus program you decide to go with keep it up to date. Run scans manually or have it scheduled to run a scan. Use other free programs as well such as free malwarebytes and spybot 2.2, these are manual programs that the user will have to update and run.
  Thank You for reading and stay virus clean.

My Favorite Virus Removal Programs For 2013

  What are the best programs to use to remove viruses. Here is my list and I would run them in this order.
   I Would Run Them In The SAFE MODE. Windows 8 and 8.1 can be set to run in the safe mode with networking. When you are done just reset it back to the normal mode. The below programs below are free on the internet. There are free utility programs such as Hirens 15.1 and 15.2 that the iso file can be burned to a cd and then run.
  1. TDSSKILLER.EXE
  2. Combofix.exe ( Does Not Run On Windows 8 & 8.1 Yet )
  3. Free Malwarebytes
  4. Super AntiSpyware- Portable Version
  5. Spybot 2.2 Portable
  6.  Clamwin Portable
  7.  Free Avast Anti Virus
  8.  Use High Jack This to remove ad ins left in Internet Explorer
  9.  Norton Power Eraser
  10. A Squared
  11. Bit Defender

  There are other programs out there that can be run, these usually do the trick.
  If the computer will not boot to the safe mode, normal mode or Command prompt then I would install a fresh load on a good hard drive and then connect the infected drive as a second drive in the system. Disconnect the set up hard drive and reconnect the infected drive. Then run all the programs and see if the computer will boot properly.
  If the computer will still not boot into any mode , then it is time to reformat the set up hard drive, copy all the data such as pictures, documents, favorites, music, email and any other data to the set up drive. You can use a free program such as unstoppable copier to copy the data to the set up drive. Just remember to uncheck the attributes settings first. Then you can use a program such as acronis or nortons ghost to clone it back to the infected drive. As a precaution you should wipe out the partition on the infected drive first.
  If you do not have access to these cloning programs, then just save the data first to a drive that was set up fresh. Just remember to wipe out the fresh load drive first to remove any possible virus that may have been transferred to it during the cleaning process. I have had this happen one time. Then install a fresh load and copy the data off the cleaned hard drive. Wipe out the partition on the infected drive, reformat the infected drive and reinstall the operating system, drivers, updates and all other software. Now you can copy the saved data to it and move it back in place. Make sure you have good virus software such as free Avast, malwarebytes and spybot 2.2 installed.
  If anyone just wants to wipe out your hard drive first and not try to clean anything, then they are a poor technician and just want your money. Also look out for the person who goes through the registry and removes information that run the virus and says now it's gone. You will be revisited by the infection and be back.
  If you decide you want a professional to handle the work check out all reviews on the internet first. There are an awful lot of crooks out there. No one should be taken to the cleaners by a dishonest individual. Some of these things may be repeated in my earlier post, but I figure the help the better.
  Thanks for reading and stay safe.

Update On The Cryptolocker Virus

  Seems that the cryptolocker virus is still going strong. There still isn't any cure to decrypt the files on the hard drive after it has struck. People are still being forced to pay the $300 dollar ransome to hopefully get their data back.
  This virus is spreading into homes and offices at a fast rate. It has already infected over 250,000 victims. As of this date no one has had any success with getting the data back. The on screen timer will demand the ransom money in bitcoin be payed within 72 hours. Apparently a police department in Massachusetts was infected in November.
  Once again the infection usually comes in through email attachments or over a network. This just an insane that just keeps getting worse. Here is a link to some good information on the virus http://www.zdnet.com/cryptolockers-crimewave-a-trail-of-millions-in-laundered-bitcoin-7000024579/ .

 

Suffering The Blue Screen Of Death

  One of the most common questions today is what is this blue screen message and why won't my computer boot to windows. The problem is that the blue screen of death message can be very general sometimes. It may be caused by faulty hardware or it can be caused by a problem in the software. I have even seen viruses cause the blue screen of death.

  Here are some things you as a consumer can do to check the hardware in your desktop or laptop computer. If you have access to the internet with another computer at your location or through a friends computer download a memory test program. One of them is the Microsoft memory test program. It is free and can be downloaded at http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Microsoft-Windows-Memory-Diagnostic-Download-3648.html . Here is some information on running it http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2008.09.utilityspotlight.aspx .I would suggest to save the cd image to a disk which is an iso file. This can be burned to a cdr disk using the burning software such as nero or roxio. Just check on your computer to see what software you have to burn the iso file to a disk. Once you boot off the created cd just run the program. If it finds a error with one of your sticks of memory just replace it with a new stick of memory. Most computers presently will have two or more sticks of memory. You can always take one stick out of the computer and test the other stick of memory.

  Another good program that I would recommend over Microsoft's memory test program is called MemTest 86+. It is another free program that you can download and install on a cdr disk. You can download the program from http://www.memtest.org/ . Scroll down the page and choose to download the pre-compiled bootable iso in a zip file. Double click the zip file and it will create the iso file which can be burned to a cdr disk. You can then boot off the cdr disk and run the program. If it finds errors then remove one stick of memory at a time and rerun the program again to narrow down to which stick of memory is actually bad and replace it.

  Another piece of hardware you can test is the hard drive. One program is the western digital program. It can be downloaded at http://support.wd.com/product/download.asp?groupid=621&sid=3&lang=en . Other manufactures have diagnostic software to test their hard drives as well. If it finds an error such as bad sectors write down the code it gives you. You can then contact the manufacturer and send the hard drive in for warranty repair if it is under warranty. If it is not under any warranty then the hard drive will have to be replaced. I would suggest using a cloning software such as acronis to clone it to a new hard drive. If it will not clone, then you will have to install a fresh load of windows with your operating disk from the manufacturer and your product license key that is usually on the computer. Then you can temporarily connect your defective hard drive and copy the data to the new set up drive. There are programs out there on the internet such as unstoppable copier that is free. You can run this after opening the files on your bad drive to give it permissions, then you can move the data.
  One more good choice is to download the current Hiren's cd iso and burn it to a dvd disk. You can then boot off of it and run the various programs mentioned above. It also has quite a variety of tools on it. This is a free repair tool used by technicians. It can be downloaded at this link http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/ . If you are sure you want to try any of the above methods then I would seek out professional help at a local computer service center.

        Always make sure to practice good esd protection so you do not damage the memory you may be replacing or the hard drive as well. Also remember that the blue screen of death may come from a variety of problems such as a motherboard, video card or a virus.
  Thank You for reading and stay safe. All Comments are welcome.
  Have A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Should I Repair My Old Laptop or Desktop Computer

  This just another one of those questions I get asked on a daily basis. Well I usually answer the questions by looking first at how old is the machine. If it is a laptop and is three years old or older I tell the person I would not put a lot of money into it. I have seen quite a few times when someone wanted to put at least $200 to $300 into the old machine just to have it work for three months and then the motherboard dies.
  Well now you have spent $300 and have nothing to show for it. No one will buy it for parts so all that's left is to recycle it and take a loss. Usually the warranty is over due to a part maybe having 90 days or less. Sometimes a part may a year or more, but the labor was only 30 days, so now it will cost to have it replaced. Either way it is a lose lose situation and you are at the losing end.
  I will advise the person to go in to a new machine for a few reasons beside the fact that the machine is older. One the motherboard, memory and processor are older and run at a slower front side bus speed. The second reason is that you generally have a windows xp operating system. I try to explain that windows xp will not be supported in 2014. This means no more security updates so the machine becomes more vulnerable to virus attacks. At some point the virus people will not support the older operating system.
  My advise to the person is to come in and talk with a sales person and get prices on a new system and transferring data to the new machine. If they decide to go with that plan, then I explain that the could take that old hard drive and put it into an external enclosure and use it for a back up drive it it is big enough. If it say is 250gb or less then I suggest just using it to back up their data. They can always keep it in a static bag, so this way if something goes wrong with the new hard drive they still have their data.
  I have found that most customers tend to go with the above plan and use the old drive as a back up drive. I will have to admit the choosing to do this depends on how expensive the old machine was. I never try to force anything on anyone. I merely give them their options and let them make up their own minds. The customer is always right and honesty is always the best policy.
  Thank You for reading . All comments are always welcome. 

Windows 8 Won't Update To 8.1

  Lately I have seen a few systems that have windows 8 and will not update to windows 8.1. Usually what happens is you end up going to the Microsoft webpage to download the windows 8.1 update. The update will start and get through the downloading process. The next thing you know windows tell you it could not install it. Then you will get another message telling you it will revert the process and set it back to windows 8.
  The next step is to go to the manufactures website and check to see if there are software drivers for windows 8.1. I had a dell computer and it was brand new, so I checked the dell support webpage. I did find that there were software drivers for windows 7, 8 and 8.1, so I new the computer can go to the windows 8.1 update.

  Okay so where do I go from here ? Well what I did was to create a folder on the desktop and called it drivers. I downloaded all the current drivers for windows 8 and saved them in the folder. I also downloaded the current system bios version update as well. I always do this so I can save it on the computer just in case something goes wrong with the hard drive at a later date. After I set up another hard drive I can access the bad hard drive and copy the drivers folder to it. I can then go and reinstall all those drivers on the new hard drive and make life easy.

  Lets get back to the windows 8.1 update situation. Now I take and reinstall all those downloaded drivers on the current windows 8 system. You may have some of them indicate that they are already installed. This is not a problem. The next step is to run the downloaded system bios update to get it to the current version. I would like to add that the downloading process of the drivers from the dell website in this case did take a good amount of time, so just be patient.
  Now download the windows 8.1 update again and it should install properly this time. Once again I will state that the download and install of windows 8.1 does take some time. The system will indicate when it is done and will most likely have to reboot the computer, so let it reboot. Once back in windows 8.1 I would suggest to go on the internet or use the windows update to check and see if there are any updates available. You should also go back to the manufacturers website, in this case dell and see if there are windows 8.1 updates for your system. If there are updates I would download them to another folder called windows 8.1 drivers and then install them. Now you should be all done and up to date.

  Some manufacturers such as lenovo have an  update program that will go out to the internet and check for current updates. If they are found, then you can choose to install them.
  If for some reason the windows 8.1 update will still no install I would do one of a couple of choices. Check on the internet with Google and search to see if your particular system has problems with windows 8.1 or just can not do it. You may find a forum where other people had the same problem. Most likely you will find what they had to do to correct the problem. The other choice is to contact the manufacturer and see if they can help. Be aware if your machine is out of warranty they may want to charge you. Another idea is to install a new hard drive or just a good drive and install a fresh load of windows, drivers and activate it. Then try and install the windows 8.1 update. If it goes through then you know that some piece of software or hardware connected to the computer is preventing it from installing. In this case you could check to see if any software or device has problems with windows 8.1. If so then check on the internet to see if there are any software patches available to correct the problem.
  I hope this information is helpful. Thank You for reading and remember to always back up your system and data. All comment are always welcome. Also Stay Safe. 

Which Is Safer Linux, Windows or Apple

  I get asked this question, which operating is safest from viruses. Is Linux safer or is Windows safer or is Apple safer? The answer when it really comes down to it is none are really safer than the other. Sometimes it's just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. You can go to a website and if their server has become infected then you will have a good chance of becoming infected.
  Lets take a look at these three operating systems and see if any are more secure than the other and why. I see more windows operating systems infected than the Apple Mac systems. The same thing with Linux, I see very few infected Linux computers. I believe the main reason why windows xp, vista, seven and now eight are more infected is just because they are the most popular systems with people. The Apple systems are just more expensive and less people have them. I have seen some apple systems come in infected as of late. It looks as if the individuals basically targeted where the population is, so they can take out larger numbers. I would bet that the number of Apple computers becoming infected will rise in the next few years as people flock to them because they believe they are safer from becoming infected.
  Another reason why Apples system is less likely to become infected is because it is UNIX based. This seems to be especially true for the latest systems Lion and Mountain Lion. Since Snow Leopard the apple system has a built in virus protection called XProtect. Here is an interesting article on viruses and malware with apple systems http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/02/20/yes-apple-really-does-have-a-serious-problem-with-computer-viruses-and-malware/ . Back in April 2012 there was a wide spread virus that attacked and infected quite a few mac computers. No one had to click on anything it just got in by downloading itself. Then it opened a backdoor and things got worse. Here is an article about it http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/widespread-computer-virus-indicates-mac-users-no-longer-safe/?_r=0 . Things are just not as safe as we think or are led to believe.

  Like I said earlier windows operating systems are just plain popular. It's like the predator going where the main supply of food is in the wild. Some of the features with windows make it more prone to attack as well. One is because more code or instructions are run in the kernel mode. This gives more normal users the access to hardware and privileged resources. Another item is that in windows we run as administrators and when it gets in it can run with administrators privileges and now it has the permission to change the system files.

  Now for Linux and very few infections. In a Linux system you only have one root user and all other accounts are standard users. These users have restricted privileges, therefore less chances of infections changing the system. It also seems that Linux is less prone to infections is because there are so many different distributions. Another point is that email in the Linux system are all very different. In windows systems the email generally the same such as Microsoft outlook and windows live mail. The internet explorer is always being updated due to security problems, which directly effect the email programs in the operating system. Linux on the other hand uses Firefox, which is not directly associated with email. Here is a very good article on why Linux is safer than windows http://www.pcworld.com/article/202452/why_linux_is_more_secure_than_windows.html .

  In the long run the being safe relies on two things keep your virus software up to date and always have a good back up system. That way you are as protected as you can be and if something does happen you can just wipe out the system and reinstall it with a clean back up. Also always back up your current data to a flash drive or an external hard drive.
  I hope this information is helpful stay safe and have a nice day.
  All comments are welcomed.  

Where to find current information on Viruses

  Most people do not know where to find information about current viruses. There are quite a few different places on the internet that have an abundance of information. One I found is at Symantec the makers of the Norton Antivirus Packages. This is a pdf file called the 2013 Internet Security Threat Report, Volume 18. It can be found at this link http://www.symantec.com/security_response/publications/threatreport.jsp . Just choose to download the main report and it will open in a pdf file format. Make sure you free adobe reader installed on your computer. This can be found at http://get.adobe.com/reader/ , just make sure to uncheck the optional offer before downloading and installing it.
  There is also quite a bit of information found at Symantec on virus information, threats, risks and vulnerabilities. The best link to this is at http://www.symantec.com/security_response/ , I would just look through all the information on the web page. You can also select other tabs and look at their various products. Another main site is for Mcafee and they can be found at http://home.mcafee.com/virusinfo . Again they have lots of information about current and past viruses. You can choose to look at the selection by Virus, Trojan, Malware, Hoax or Worm. Again you can look at their individual products they sell as well as a wealth of information.
  I found this site on the internet that offers a lot of information on Microsoft releases, Holiday Scams and other current information. They have information for the current releases of the Mozilla Firefox web browser. Here is some good information on the new CryptoLocker virus going around. I would definitely read up on this at this link https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA13-309A . I would check out rest of the information at the site https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/current-activity .
  As my usual advise with email if you don't know who it's from don't open it. I would just delete it. Another bit of advise is to set your email program so it does not automatically open the preview pane. If it does open that first email and it does have a virus, then you will be infected. Use the help feature in the email program to set it so the preview pane is off.  This can be done whether it is Microsoft outlook, windows live mail  or what ever program it is. The cryptolocker virus mainly comes in through email.
  VIRUS ALERT: Here is a new computer virus that apparently has just come out. It is called Goner and is coming through email. It will try to destroy your anti virus software. Check out this link for more information http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-88046/New-virus-causes-havoc.html .
  Thank You for reading and don't forget BACK UP YOUR DATA.
  All Comments and information are welcomed.

 

Laptop Not Powering on or Battrey Not Charging

  My laptop will not power on is something that happens quite often. The other problem is that the battery will not charge up. The no power problem can come from a few different sources. First it may be a problem with the ac adapter. The ac adapter is also known as the brick due to its shape. This the part that provides the power to the laptop.

  The first thing to do is determine if the ac adapter is defective. You are going to need a digital multimeter.

  You will place the red and black probes on the plug end that will plug into the laptop. Usually on the back of the ac adapter it will indicate what the voltage, current and wattage are. If it does not show the wattage it can be determined by multiplying the voltage times the current. I have found that sometimes the voltage may be intermittent. This is caused by a broken wire going to the plug end. While holding the probes to the plug move it around and watch the voltage. If it is good and then it drops there is a broken wire. This can be corrected buy purchasing a new plug end. You will need to know what the inner and outer dimensions of the plug are. You find the information on the back of the ac adapter or with specifications that came with the laptop. If check on the internet using the ac adapter model number.
  If the ac adapter tests good, then the next problem may be the dc jack in the laptop. You can find various  pictures of dc jacks on the internet. Check out videos of dc jack repair on youtube.

 There are quite a few different types of dc jacks. They vary depending on the manufacturer and model of the laptop. There are dc jacks that solder directly to the motherboard. There are other dc jacks that are self contained and have a wire with a connector on one end that plugs in to the motherboard. The best way to find the dc jack is to go on the internet and search for the dc jack for your make and model of your laptop. When you find a reseller I would advise to check them out first by using resellerratings.com. at this link http://www.resellerratings.com/ . If you are using ebay or amazon check out the ratings for that seller. A couple of tests can be done to determine if the dc jack is defective. Try moving the plug a little while it is plugged into the laptop. Watch the power led on the laptop and see if it comes on and goes off with movement. If it does then the jack needs to be replaced. The other method is to dissemble the laptop far enough to get to the dc jack and measure to voltage at the pins going to the motherboard. You can try to go further in the circuit if you no exactly where to measure the voltage. Always be careful when taking laptops apart, because the plastic can be brittle and break easily. Batteries usually go bad when they have reached their life expectancy. This information is usually given by the manufacturer. Some batteries have to be installed to complete the circuit and if the battery is dead it may leave an open circuit. Sometimes you can measure the battery with a digital multimeter and some batteries have a button with leds to show how much power there is.
  There are also ac adapters available know as universal ac adapters. They may auto select the output voltage for the laptop and provide the necessary current. There are other models that have a selector switch to choose the proper voltage. I have read good and bad reviews by using these. I have heard of no problems and then on the other hand I have heard where the laptop worked and then all of the sudden the motherboard was bad. My advise is to always go with the ac adapter that is for that particular model. The engineers designed that certain voltage and current for the particular circuit.
  If the ac adapter and dc jack are ok ,then it can be a bad battery or the charging circuit on the motherboard may be defective. Try removing the battery and going right off the ac adapter 
   If all of these do not help and it is determined that the motherboard is defective it may be best to take the laptop to a professional. Most of the time it is not cost effective to replace the motherboard due to cost. Generally the cost of the motherboard and the labor involved exceeds the value of the laptop, unless it is fairly new and was an expensive model.
  Thank You for reading and stay safe. All Comments are always welcomed. 

Reparing LCD Monitors

   I have seen quite a few lcd monitors being thrown out in the trash or recycled. I have pulled some from the trash and opened them up to find out that they just had bad capacitors. You can tell because the capacitors are usually popped up on top and leaking in the center. I have also seen some where they are bulged out at the bottom of the capacitor. This is sometimes hard to see. Here is an example of damaged capacitors.

  I did some research on the internet and found that there were problems with bad batches of capacitors from the manufacturers. What you can do is determine the manufacturer of the capacitor and use google as the search browser to see if they are from a bad batch.
  What I do next is look at the capacitor to determine what the voltage of the capacitor is and the the microfarad value is. I also look at what the temperature value is. All of these are visible on the capacitor itself. I also measure the diameter and height of the capacitor with a caliper.

                  

  There are two examples of calipers above. The top is a standard caliper and the bottom has a digital readout. I my self prefer the digital readout as it is easier to read. These can be easily purchased at Home Depot ,Lowes or Harbor Freight.

  The most difficult part of the process can be opening the lcd to get at the carious boards inside. Some manufacturers use screws to hold parts together. While other manufacturers use the plastic catch and lock assembly with some screws. I would recommend looking on the internet and finding the assembly and disassemble process for the individual model lcd. Here are just a couple of videos to show how to open a lcd display. I would also recommend that you use some esd protection such as a static wrist strap so you don not zap any parts while handling the pc boards.

    
  The place that I go to once I know what the capacitor values are is Digi Key, because they always have the parts I need and the prices are very good. I have never had a problem with them. Here is a link to their website http://www.digikey.com/ so check them out.
  The other tools you will need is a soldering iron, desoldering tool, solder wick and the solder. I also use a Phillips Head screwdriver and a thin flat blade screwdriver. I did notice in some video that the person used a putty knife. I myself have never used one for this. There are also some plastic tools for this and can be purchased on the web.
  If you are replacing just a cracked lcd itself or an individual board ,then I would research on the internet the various resellers out there. I would look very closely at their prices and polices. I have seen where some have no return polices. One place I have found on the internet when looking at resellers is a website called reseller ratings. Here is a link to their site http://www.resellerratings.com/ this can be very helpful. You can find reviews with good and bad information, then make your choice. 
  I have repaired at least six lcd monitors this way and they are all still working properly. Sometimes you may also find a capacitor replacement kit for the individual lcd monitor. Just remember to go by the manufacturer and model number on the monitor itself.

 There are examples of how to open the lcd case . I would look for videos of repairing lcd displays on youtube.

  Well I hope this information helps anyone out. Thank You for reading and stay safe. All comments and additional information are welcome.

 

Microsoft Called Me Today

  If someone calls you on the phone and says they are from Microsoft don't believe it. Ask yourself why would Microsoft be calling me out of all the people in the world. Also how did they know my phone number. Yes they are trying to scam you and they sure are not from Microsoft. There are so many of these fake scams out there it's becoming ridiculous.
  These are just some of the people they try to convince you of who they are. They may tell you that they are from the help desk support. They may tell you that they are from the windows service center. Another one is that they are Microsoft Tech Support and they heard you had a problem with your computer. I also heard someone tell the person they are windows technical department support group or they are on the Microsoft research and development team. All of these are just some of the fake people or groups they try to portray.
  If this happens to you then you need to know how to report this scam. You should contact the federal trade commission at consumer information for telemarketing scams. Here is a link to their website http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/ . If anyone calls you never purchase any software or service from them, because chances are it's a scam. Ask them if there is a fee involved and then hang up.
  Another thing they may try to do is ask if they can take control of you computer to repair something. This is definitely a red flag. Once they get into your computer who knows what they may take, such as personal information. The thing to do is try and get as much information from them as possible and call the authorities right away. Also never give them credit card information or any other information, such as bank information.
  If you think that they may have gotten into your computer and infected you, follow these steps. One change your computers password. Two scan your computer with programs such as free Malwarebytes http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/ , Spybot 2.1 http://www.safer-networking.org/private/details/, combofix (not for windows 8 or 8.1 yet) http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/combofix/ . You should also make sure your virus software on your computer is up to date and scan the system. The best way is to enter the safe mode with networking and run these one at a time rebooting when necessary. Never click on anything, I would suggest to hold the power button in for 10 to 15 seconds and it should shut down.
  If you feel that your computer may still be infected, then I would look for a good reputable computer service center and take it in. Before you take it anywhere I would check for reviews on the service center just to protect yourself. You can also check by contacting the better business bureau.
  As a final note and the most important always have a BACK SYSTEM of some sort in place. You can use a back up service to the cloud such as carbonite. Just be aware of their packages. The other way is to have an external hard drive for the back up and use the back up program in windows 7 or 8.
  Thank You for reading and I hope this helps you. Any and all comments or additional information is welcomed. Remember to Stay Safe. 

Surge Protectors and Battery Back Ups

  When I see a computer that has expanded bulging capacitors someone always asks what caused that. Well it is not always as simple as it seems to determine the cause. It can be from a bad batch of capacitors, a defective motherboard, bad power supply, lightning strike or the power in the house going off and then coming back on. So usually the first question I ask is did the power go out and then come back on. Almost all of the time the person says yes that did happen recently.
  The next question is why didn't my surge protector prevent that ? I then explain that the surge protector does not prevent damage from that situation. It is meant for when you have for example a lightning strike and it travels down the power line and into the house. The surge protector has a device in it call a varistor, also called an MOV. The varistor shunts the excess electricity coming down the main line to the ground line. Thus protecting your electronic equipment.
  Some of the items you want to look for in a surge protector are the clamping voltage, response time, joule rating and the warranty. The clamping voltage is the point when the varistor kicks in. Clamping volts are any where from 330 volts to 500 volts. The response time again is how fast the varistor kicks in, which is usually a few nanoseconds. The joule rating is how much energy the surge protector can handle before it's overloaded. The higher the joule rating the better the surge protector. The rating is usually between 600 to 300 joules.

  Finally you want to make sure the surge protector has a good warranty. The better surge protectors have a lifetime warranty. The better ones will offer the lifetime warranty to replace the damaged or the destroyed components. I have seen in some stores some very cheap surge protectors being sold. The best surge protectors I use and have seen are made by TrippLite http://www.tripplite.com/en/index.cfm .

  The next item is the battery back up. This device usually has the surge protector and the battery, so that if the power goes out the battery kicks in and prevents that sudden spike that causes the popped or bulged capacitors. The best one I have seen is made by APC http://www.apc.com/site/products/index.cfm , while some of Belkins http://www.belkin.com/us/Products/Power/c/WSPWRSP/  high end battery back ups are also very good.

  As a final note make sure all of your electronic equipment is well protected form any surge.
  Thanks For reading. Any and all Comments are always welcomed and stay safe.

What is the best Internet Browser to use

 The internet browsers keep changing to new versions all the time. When internet explorer came out as a critical update it started causing problems with systems. There were problems with the downloading of pictures on to a Face book page. There were all kinds of problems going on. Here is a link to some of the problems that were encountered. Check out this link http://news.softpedia.com/news/IE10-on-Windows-7-No-Thanks-Many-Users-Are-Saying-338753.shtml it has some useful information.
  The only solution was to go into the control panel and then to programs uninstall in vista or windows 7.

You then click on view installed updates and wait until it loads up. The next step is to look down the list and find internet explorer 10. Once found choose to uninstall it and the computer will then reboot. Once the system has rebooted go to internet explorer and make sure it is back to internet explorer 9. Run update again and when it comes back again choose to hide it.  Now run updates again and check the optional updates, because it will come in as an optional update. At this point choose to hide it again, so it will never be reinstalled.
  Well now Microsoft has come out with Internet Explorer 11.

  As usual it is having some problems. After it is installed an audio cd will no longer play. It may play the first song in the track. When it gets to the next song it goes no further. If you try to manually select the next song in the track windows media player just keeps spinning. There is a fix out for this problem.
  Here is just one link to some of the problems internet explorer 11 is causing http://technet.microsoft.com/library/dn338138.aspx check it out. All you have to do is a search on the internet for problems with internet explorer 11 and you will find quite a few. I all else fails with windows 7, go back to internet explorer 9 until all the bugs are worked out. The other choice is wait for internet explorer 12 and then have all new problems.
  Another choice in the browsers category is Mozilla Firefox.

Currently Firefox is up to version 25, which could change at any moment. I use it and have not had any problems. It seems to be pretty stable. I would just always check for updates due to security risks. Once installed you can import your favorites from internet explorer to it.
  Finally the next browser I would suggest using is Google Chrome.

I like Google Chrome, because it seems to be a little faster than the previous two browsers. I had heard individuals say that it is less secure and brings in viruses. This is an unfounded fact and just not true. The problem is not the browser, but where the person using it goes. I have had it stop me from going to some sites, because it might see something as a threat. I use it and it works just fine.
  There are other search browsers out there. My advise is before you go and install any other search browser use Google and do a search on it for reviews or problems it may cause. I can not tell you how many times I see viruses that have changed the search browser in internet explorer, Firefox and chrome. If you do get a virus then as part of the cleaning process reset the browser completely. Check the managed ad ons in internet explorer and remove them. You may have to use a program such as highjack this to remove them.
  To reset internet explorer go to tools, internet options and then click the advanced tab. Down towards the bottom of the window is reset explorer settings. remember to check mark the delete personal settings, because the infections may have put something in there. There is also the Microsoft fix it program choice which will do it for you. Here is a link for information http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923737 .
  With Firefox go to help at the top and then to trouble shooting information and the click on the reset
 button. Here is a link on how to perform it http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fix-most-problems .
  To reset Google Chrome click on the chrome menu on the right side of the display. Next select settings and then click on show advanced settings at the bottom of the window. Next click on reset browser settings at the bottom of the now extended window. I would also suggest to clear the history from all time and check the extensions. You can choose to remove them if you did not choose to install them. Here is a link on how to perform the reset https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/3296214?hl=en .
 I hope all this information is helpful. Thank You For Reading. All comments and additional information are welcomed and stay safe.

 

My Hard Drive Is Going Klunk Klunk

  What do you do when your hard drive starts making a klunk noise ? Usually when this happens your computer will not boot up. This is because the hard drive is having a problem called head banging. This is happening because the armature inside the drive is hitting the spindle inside the drive. Whatever you do don`t try and open the drive. A hard drive should only be opened in a clean room by a professional. Once dust gets inside the drive on the disks or platters it is useless.
  Here is a link to some very interesting reading on hard drives. Check it out at http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/op/over.htm it has a lot of useful information. hard drives all vary in size depending on whether they are in a desktop computer or a laptop computer. Here are some examples of hard drives below.

  The first thing to do is shut the computer off and remove the hard drive from the computer. Take the hard drive and place it in a static bag.

Next wrap a dry towel around it and put it in your refrigerator freezer. Leave it in there for several hours. Take it out of the freezer and connect it up to the computer as fast as possible. Act a quickly as you can to get the data off it. You may only have a few minutes. Before you take it out of the freezer have your computer set up with a new hard drive and your operating system reinstalled first. I would note that this does not always work. If there is data that you definitely have to such as for a business, then I would suggest sending it out to a professional data recovery business. They have clean rooms and literally take the disks out of the drive to get the data off. Do Not try it yourself, because you will contaminate it and lose everything.
  With the newer types of hard drive called solid state drives you do not have this problem. They are all solid state electronics and have no moving parts. The only draw back is they are very expensive especially if you need a larger drive. I would check out this link for information on this type of hard drive http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive   at wikipedia.

Also with solid state hard drives I do not suggest to try and install them in an older computer. If the computer has sata ports and not the older ide connections then you are probably ok. The solid sate drive may increase the start up time and running of programs. The drawback is that they are generally not very large in space to store programs. A 120gb ssd runs around $100 at newegg http://www.newegg.com/Internal-SSDs/SubCategory/ID-636. A 512gb ssd solid state drive runs around $470.00 dollars. Maybe they will come down in price in the future.
   As a final note the most important thing anyone can do is back up your data. You can back it up to an external hard drive or to the cloud with carbonite. If you go with carbonite just make sure of the plan you choose.  I did talk about this subjet in one of my previous posts so check it out.
  Thank You for reading and stay safe.

Back Up Back Up Back Up

  The one thing I can not stress enough to all my friends is to make sure you always back up your data. My general recommendation is to use an external hard drive to back your system and data to. I would say that it`s best to use at least a 1tb external hard drive. This is because there are so many updates coming through that smaller drives fill up too fast. Some examples of back up drives can be seen below.

  The external hard drive enclosure is seen just above. With this type you can purchase a hard drive of your choice and mount it inside the enclosure. This is a nice option, because if the drive goes bad you can replace the drive or if the enclosure goes bad you can replace that as well.
  Another way of backing up your data is to the cloud. here is a good link with helpful information http://www.pcworld.com/article/223354/choosing_cloud_backup_for_pcs.html . There is also carbonite which is an online back up service that is available to pc users as well as mac users. It can back up all your data. There are different packages available. Some packages do not make a mirror back up of your hard drive. Other types of back ups are using a program such as Nortons Ghost to make an exact image of your hard drive as well as the data to an external hard drive. The back up program in windows 7 does work very well.
  I would advise never to back up to your hard drive in the computer to the main drive. I have seen people back up to the recovery partition and fill it up. You could however install a second hard drive in the computer case and back up to that. With programs such as Nortons Ghost you do have to make sure it is set for incremental backing up. This way it will do so many back ups and then remove the older ones. This way it does not keep piling up the back ups and then fill the drive. I remember one situation where the person did not realize it and the drive was filled and had not backed up since two months when it was full, therefore he lost two months of data.
  Some simple ways of backing up data are to a flash drive. Generally you will be performing the copy and paste routine. The problem with this is a flash drive is not very large and will run out of space. It is good for small amounts of data.

  So just remember it is better to back up your system and data, because you never know what will happen. It can be anything from a defective hard drive to a bad virus such as the crypto locker virus.
 Thank You for reading. Any comments or information are always welcomed.

Help My Computer Is Running Slow

  This is one of the most common things I almost hear on a daily basis. So what do you do first ? Well the first thing I do is open the computer and see how much dust has built up inside. Sometimes computers are like wonderful vacuum cleaners. I have seen some where the dust is so bad it actually looks like a home made filter for a furnace. I have seen the heat sink for the microprocessor packed with dust so no heat will dissipate. Usually if really bad the computer will overheat causing the computer to shut off.
  The next step is to get that dust and dirt out of there. I do not recommend using any kind of a brush inside the case because it will not be static safe. You could easily damage the motherboard with esd damage. That is electrostatic discharge damage resulting a bad motherboard as well as other components. What I would suggest is to use an air compressor to blow the dust and dirt out of the case and fans. When you blow out a fan I would use something to keep the fan from spinning. If it spins too fast you can damage it by too much current and also damage the bearings in the fan.
  At this point I also check the motherboard for any bulging or expanded capacitors.

There are occasions when the capacitor is expanded at the bottom. The capacitor expands because heat has built up in the capacitor, which results in the visible damage. There have been bad batches of capacitors through manufacturing. An experienced individual can replace the capacitors. Just make sure you have the correct voltage rating and capacitance. I also measure the height and diameter of the capacitor to try and keep it as close to what the manufacturer used. The other reason it may have expanded is from the power in a house for example shutting off and coming back on. The usual surge protector will not protect the equipment from this. They are for protecting from a lightning strike by absorbing to power coming down the line to the system. The best protection is to use a battery back up system that has a built in surge protector. This way if the power goes out then the battery kicks in and you don`t have that sudden on and off surge. Power supplies in systems can cause the damage as well or just a defective motherboard.
  The most common cause of slowness may be from a virus, malware, spyware or adware that has gotten into the system. I would recommend using programs such as free malwarebytes, spybot, combofix, super anti-spyware and whatever antivirus program is installed on your computer. I would run all scans in the safe mode. With windows 8 you can set the software to always go to a safe boot with networking. Just remember to reset it when done. This link is good as well as others http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/ss/windows-8-safe-mode.htm . Windows xp, vista and windows 7 can be  placed in the safe mode by pressing the F8 key on the keyboard during the post test when the system is first powering on, then choose safemode with networking.
  Another item I would check is the hard drive. Usually the manufacture will have a diagnostic partition that may be entered by pressing a certain key at start up. See the manufacturers instructions, because they all vary depending on if it`s a Dell, Asus, Acer, HP etc..... You can also run the test on the hard drive within the system or what I prefer is to use a boot disk such as Hirens, Ultimate Boot Disk or Win & PE. These can be downloaded from the internet and are iso files which will be needed to be burned to a cd disk. Western digital and seagate also have programs that can be downloaded and run as well.
  Another item that can cause problems is the amount of system ram memory. In older systems 2gb is usually the most windows xp would use. In Vista, Windows 7 and 8, I would recommend 8gb or more. You can download a free program called Memtest 86+ off the internet and install it on a cd to boot from to test the memory.
  Always make sure windows updates are installed and working properly. If problems are not solved I would save all data, Reformat the hard drive and reinstall all software, drivers and components. If you are not comfortable with this, then I would seek out a professional.
 Thank You for reading. Any comments or questions are always welcomed.  Stay Safe   

Happy Halloween

                                Just Wanted to wish everyone a safe and Happy Halloween !!!!!

What is the best virus software

  What is the best virus software to use. I get asked that question on a daily basis. For myself in the free category I prefer free Avast antivirus software. When I was trying to decide I took a look at a number of reviews. The Avast antivirus was rated number one in the free category. I run that In my computer and it really does perform very well. I have had a number of times where it has stopped some malicious site from infecting my computer. I would definitely recommend it to any person.
  The next two antivirus programs in the free category I would recommend are free AVG antivirus and Microsoft Security Essentials. Both of these seem to do a pretty good job. I tend to prefer the AVG before Microsoft Security Essentials. The Microsoft Security Essentials does seem to be a little less intrusive then AVG.
  The next category would be the paid versions of software. The top rated seems to be Bitdefender followed by Kaspersky. Honestly I have not used Bitdefender so I really can`t say anything about it. I have heard from others that it does a good job. I have on the other hand used Kaspersky and it does seem to do a pretty thorough job.Next in line would be Norton Antivirus. I have installed this on some machines and it does a pretty good job. A few years back it was found to use a lot of resources and slow machines down. That does not seem to be a problem with newer computers due to faster microprocessors, memory and a front side bus speed.
  As usual my advise will always be back up your data, because you never know what will happen.
  Thanks for reading and comments are always welcome.       

Resetting your browsers after a virus cleaning

  With most viruses there are toolbars that come in as well as adware. After I am satisfied all the junk programs have been removed I clean up all the browsers. I will reset internet explorer, google chome and mozilla firefox. With internet explorer go to tools, internet options, advanced, click on restore advanced settings and the click on reset. I always put a check mark in the delete personal settings. This way it clears any change to the search choice and will reset it back to msn. Once restarted it will go through the settings choices. Choose to do that manually and follow it through. This does not remove your favorites, managed ad ons or favorites bar. After internet explorer has restarted you can reset up your home page. I would always make note of what your home page was previous to any infection. The next thing to do is to check the managed ad ons to see if any junk is left over such as conduit etc.... If you are not sure of one then google it. If anything is left in managed ad ons I use a free program called Hijack This, it is free on the internet. Just do a scan of the system and look through the list and check the box. Only remove the lines associated with the particular ad on. One you are satisfied there are no more then choose to remove them. The system may have to be restarted. Go back into internet explorer and check to see if the ad on is gone. I have had occasions where I had to go through the registry and remove certain lines. This is usually best for a professional to do.  
  To reset the mozilla firefox program go to help in the top row and click on it. Next click the selection called Troubleshooting Information. Next click the button at the top of the screen on the right side called Reset Firefox. This will reset the program and clear out any settings that may have been changed by the infections. I would also make note of you homepage, because it will be set to the default screen. It will also create a folder with the bookmarks and some other information in case they have to be reinstalled. I generally have not had to do anything with the folder. You should not lose any of your bookmarks .
  The next browser to reset is the google chrome program. First bring up the program and click the customize and control google chrome in the upper right hand corner. When it does a drop down windows click on the settings choice. When it opens the settings window scoll to the bottom and click show advanced settings. Again scroll to the bottom of the window and click reset browser settings. The next step is to go to the upper left side of the window and click the history choice. Click the clear browsing data and select clear history from the beginning of time. After the history is cleared I then click on the extensions choice in the upper left side and delete any extension from the viruses. If you do not know what it is delete it. Now you can close out the chrome program and restart it. If it still has a home page from the infections then go to google.com and press enter or whatever you want you home page to be. Go back to settings again and go to on start up. Click the open a specific page or set of pages. Now click set pages at the end of that and click the use current pages button.
  Now you can close out chrome and then restart the program. See if it goes to your desired home page and you should be all set. I would advise to go to each of the browsers one at a time and go to various websites. This is done for two reasons, one to make sure there is no redirecting to other websites and there are no pop ups. I also look at the web page such as this old house to make sure you don`t any ad that should not be there.
  I hope this information helps, thank you for reading. Leave any comments you would like I am always happy to hear from anyone.

Clean up the junk from the viruses

  I would recommend to clean up and junk programs that came in with the viruses. The best program to use is a free uninstaller called revo. You can download this free off the internet. Just use google as the search tool and type in download revo uninstaller. Download it and save it to a folder you create. Then go and run the program. You will have a number of programs show up in the window. Click on the desired program and click uninstall from the toolbar at the top of the screen. There are choices as to the repressiveness of the uninstall. I generally use the advanced choice, but can choose moderate. It will locate the files in the system and you can select them. The next step is to uninstall them, this may take a few minutes. It may find more and you can choose to uninstall them as well. 
  The only drawback to the program is that it does not create a restore point. As a safety precaution I will use google and search for information on the selected item. Another idea is to go to programs uninstall in the control panel and find the program in the list. Look to see what date is on it. If it is an older date then it probably did not come in with the viruses. Once satisfied it came in with the viruses then you can uninstall it.
 There are occasions when you may have to uninstall the program from the start up program list. I have also had to go to the programs folder and there may be an uninstall choice there. If none of these work then use google and search on how to uninstall whatever the program is. Sometimes there are special uninstallers for a particular program to clean all the junk out from files and from the registry. If you have to go through the registry always export it to a file first in case you have to restore the registry. If you are not sure what to do with any of the above information seek out a good computer shop to take the computer to for a professional cleaning. I would also suggest to check out any reviews on the computer shop before taking it to them. It`s better to be safe then sorry. 

New virus called Cryptolocker Ransom Virus

  Be aware of this infection called the cryptolocker ransom virus. It usually attacks network computers and will encrypt the files on your hard drive making it useless. As of late there is not any fix for it. Some people are paying the $300 dollar ransom fee, which does not always work. I find it ridiculous that we have to give the money to the crooks using our credit card. Why not just give them all our information.
  It usually comes in through email from some place such as ups , fedex or another type of shipping.  Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryptoLocker for information about the infection. Always keep your virus software up to date and backup your data, but only have it on when backing up and shut it off when done.

CryptoLocker Ransomware

  There is a new virus in town. It`s called the Cryptolocker Ransomware virus. It will encrypt the files on your hard drive making them inaccessible. As of late there is not any fix for it. This is generally a virus that infects network computers. There are some precautions you can take to try and prevent it. It usually comes in through email posing as something from ups, fedex etc....
  I am providing a link to bleeping computers, because they have good information. It will be at the end of the post. The one thing I have heard is paying the $300 ransom to these crooks to try and remove the encryption. This sounds ridiculous to me. You are giving your credit card number to the crooks with your private information. I will keep my eyes open for any fixes for this that come along.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/cryptolocker-ransomware-information

Thanks for reading and be careful.

One method I have found that works very well when cleaning a virus that stops you from entering the safe, normal and command prompt mode is to use another hard drive with windows 7 or windows xp on it. Just set it up as the primary drive. Connect your origional infected hard drive up as the secondary drive. You usually do not have to activate it or install windows updates. It will need the ethernet driver installed so it can access the internet. Download tdsskiller.exe, combofix, malwarebytes, spybot 2.1portable and super anti-spyware portable from the internet. Run each of these in the order above. When they have all been run shut the computer down and reconnect the original hard drive by itself. Try rebooting the system and see if it will now boot properly. I would advise to rerun the above programs and choose to update them in their selected programs. Some other programs to run are trend house-call online scanner and eset online scanner.
 I have found that this method works very well with viruses such as the FBI viruses.

Simple Tools For Cleaning Viruses

There are some simple tools to have if your computer has a virus. I would recommend a 4gb or 8gb flash drive, access to another computer, dvd disk and internet access. Go online and search for Hirens 15.1 and 15.2, so you can download the  iso files to a folder you created. Run a program such as Nero or Roxio to burn the iso image file to the cd. This will create a bootable cd with a number of valuable programs.
 I would then download the following programs: tdsskiller.exe, combofix, malwarebytes, spybot 2.1 portable and super anti spyware portable. If you can access the hard drive, copy these to the root drive c:.
 Boot into the safe mode with networking by pressing the F8 key on the keyboard during the post test if possible. Then go to the folder where the programs are stored and run them one at a time in the order mentioned above. The computer will have to rebooted during the use of the programs. Make sure to update the malwarebytes, combofix and spybot 2.1 before running the scans.
 Malwarebytes places the found items in a quarantine and they can all be selected, then deleted. The same can be done with spybot 2.1 when it has finished running.
 A couple of other programs that can be run are eset online scanner and trends housecall online scanner.
 Always make sure when you are done that your other programs such as Microsoft Office run properly. Many times viruses may corrupt these and they will have to be re-installed over themselves  to correct any corruption from the viruses.