Laptops on beds

Putting laptops on beds may not be necessarily a bad thing if you have a bed tray with a hard surface and you don’t put it near the edge of the mattress where it can potentially fall to the floor. Keep in mind,  when laptops are used on a bed, you have two things that can go seriously wrong. The first is that it can overheat when it is on a soft surface and that fluffy mattress or your legs may block the air circulation vents. The second danger is the aforementioned falling and when your house has hard wood or even harder laminate flooring, the impact may be too much for the fragile parts in the hard disk or other components to handle. I have seen hard disks damaged by a fall. Some were repairable enough to get the data off and others were too severely damaged and could not be recognized as a drive. Having good disk imaging software, like Acronis True Image Home make it possible to fully recover the operating system, apps, data and settings to a new replacement hard disk. Chances are though, if your laptop falls to the floor, more than just the hard disk has the potential of being damaged so why take the risk?

By Phil See

Spyware programs go by many names and some pose as official looking applications.

If your PC does get infected by spyware, you can usually tell if they are fake. Here’s how:

One I ran across one recently is called Win 7 Antispyware 2012 (Flag! Notice it says Win 7 and not Windows 7). This rogue spyware called Trojan.Fakealert pops up an official looking scanner that says you have multiple viruses on your PC and then for $60+ offers you a link to download software to clean it off your PC. Software that in fact is a virus itself.  Don’t be fooled and fall for the $60 removal tool.  It is a fake. And there are other names and flavors of this same basic scam.

There is the MS software Removal tool or MS removal tool. Do not confuse this with Microsoft’s official Malicious Software Removal Tool. Again, you will be offered a removal tool for $60 or $80 and again,  it is a scam.

There is even one scanner called Fakefrag that does a clever job of making you think your hard disk is crashing and it does this by taking your documents and pictures, moving them to a different folder and then hiding them so as to make you think they were deleted altogether. It also sends files to your recycle bin. Fortunately the hidden files are not actually deleted and the Recycle bin cannot be emptied by Fakefrag. Believe me, you really don’t want this on your computer. Here is a great YouTube video from Symantec.com about the Trojan.Fakfrag. I have been called about a few of these nasty programs and here is my advice:

• First of all, if a scanner you have never seen before pops up and it looks like an official Microsoft application and even has a Microsoft icon, do not assume it is official and especially, if there is a dollar amount involved. Instead, suspect it is a spyware fake and call a computer repair technician.
  
• Notice the name of the fake scanner (if there is one) and write it down so you can tell the technician what it is.
• If the fake scanner appeared after visiting a website, click the down arrow on the right of the field where you enter a URL address at the top of your browser, notice the list of remembered sites and do a Google/Yahoo, etc., search on the websites you visited and see if the results show anything about it being infected with spyware. If you haven’t taken the bait, paid the $60 and installed the fake removal tool, the technician can get rid of the spyware in short order. If your tech wants to download internet security software to get your PC protected, let him or her do so because they can get your PC secure for around $30 (half the price of the fake removal tool).
• I cannot stress this enough: To avoid getting these threats in the first place, make sure your Microsoft critical updates are current. If you are not sure of whether they are current,  click Start+Programs+Windows Update. Don’t let your Antivirus/Internet security software expire. See Seven tips for keeping your computer safe.

First of all, a new computer is an exciting prospect and especially if the old computer is now obsolete, problematic and generally does all kinds of things to fill your head with “colorful metaphors” (curse words). Now, this blog entry is by no means meant to discourage you from getting a new computer. On the contrary! It is meant to help you plan your upgrade a little better and to perhaps address any concerns you may have.

Here are some basic things to keep in mind before installing a new computer.

• One thing you can do with that old piece of cra….computer to save yourself further stress and yes, disgust, is to download and run the Windows 7 Upgrade Adviser from Microsoft. After all, your new computer, unless it is a Mac, has Windows 7 on it and so you will want to know if your current applications and devices are compatible with Windows 7 and which ones you may need to upgrade.
• There is a specific order to follow when migrating your data and installing applications to your new Windows 7 PC. Data and settings are always first and reinstalling applications is last. This is assuming you are using Windows Easy Transfer for your data and settings migration to the new PC.
  
• Unless you are a tech/consultant,  it is better to pay a local tech to migrate your data, settings and applications to your new PC than for you to attempt it yourself. I have a client who recently had, according to laptop’s manufacturer, a hard disk crash.  The manufacturer’s local hardware tech brought a new hard disk, installed it,  loaded Windows on it and then in a hurry, took off. My client then spent 8 hours on the phone with the manufacturer’s tech in India trying to get his applications installed on the new drive. His wife later informed me, there were definitely colorful metaphors! I was then hired to install their remaining applications, printer and to inspect their system. Turns out the data still had to be migrated from the old hard disk (no longer in the laptop) to the new drive and around 37 Microsoft updates, critical and non, had to be installed before I could even do that. Grant it, getting a new PC is different than an old one having a hard disk replacement but when is comes to data and program migration, they are very similar and still require a consultant’s expertise to save you major time, money and the aforementioned colorful metaphors.
• Most people have some kind of backup system in place for data backup but if you are getting a new PC, it wouldn’t hurt to go the extra mile and have a backup system that does a full backup of your entire system followed by incremental backups of only the changes. When a hard disk crashes or there is a major issue with Windows due to a virus/malware threat and windows will not boot and you can’t use Windows System Restore, this will restore “everything” back to the last backup date.  It is even possible to restore everything from a backup that occurred that very morning and if it’s a management PC or a production PC for a business, that’s huge!
• Finally, see my Seven Tips For Keeping Your Computer Safe post because you will want to make sure, (both pre and post-migration) that all Microsoft updates are all current.
  

Thanks for visiting,

Computer

Phil

Having had to remove some pretty wicked malware from both business and home computers only to find out the Internet Security software and/or Windows updates were not current, led me to share this important blog entry. Keeping your PC safe actually makes my job much easier and less time-consuming. This is particularly crucial when dealing with key business computers where downtime means money lost.

• Make sure your Windows Updates are set to automatically download.
  

  If they are and you see this icon, (Windows Vista and 7) or this icon (Windows XP) on your Task Bar on the lower right (if you have several applications running in the system tray, you may need to click the left arrow to reveal the update icon). Click on the update icon and then click the Install Updates button. The updates may also include Service Packs for your version of Windows and Microsoft Office.  Service Packs are imperative because they contain critical updates and others important for your PC’s overall health.

• Make sure your Anti-Virus/Internet Security (IS) software is current. If it has expired, renew it for at least another year. Free IS software doesn’t necessarily mean it is good. I recommend BitDefender Internet Security 2012. It scans, incoming and outgoing email, has anti-spam and anti-phishing filters and plugins, a firewall and you can get a 2 year, 3 user license for around $70.00. It is also rated #1 by many consumer and top 10 review sites.
  
• Never open an email from anyone you don’t know and especially, if the message has an attachment signified by a paper clip symbol next to the unopened message.  That attachment could be a virus so, if you don’t know the sender and there is an attachment, delete the message and empty the deleted items folder in your email client (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.).
  
• Windows System Restore should be enabled on your PC. If a virus or spyware threat modifies the Windows registry files or “Hive” System Restore makes it possible to disable some threat so it can be cleaned more easily.
• If you choose to download freeware or games, make sure they are from a reputable site and if you don’t know, Google the site first to confirm it is safe.
• If an email is forwarded to you with multiple names of receivers on the distribution list and you do not recognize any names on the list, it is safer not to use the “Reply to All” option. Reply only to the sender you know to help protect your privacy and possibly your identity.
• If you have a home or business wireless network, WPA security should be configured on the wireless router so that it requires a pass code to enter your network. I recommend buying a Wireless N router for better, range, speed and WPA security capability and just to be safe, one that has a built-in firewall. PCs that are on unsecured networks are very vulnerable unless you have really good Internet security software (see tip 2).

Keeping your identity safe:

As an extra precaution, I recommend keeping all data that contains personal information, like, Quicken/QuickBooks and Turbo Tax files on a USB jump drive (one you don’t take with you everywhere) or at the very least, on a separate computer that is not connected to the Internet. Plug the flash drive into your PC only when opening, editing, saving existing and saving new personal files. The files can also be made safe by encrypting them and a lot of the new flash drives now have a way to password protect your drive.  You can read about encryption online and in your Windows operating system help section. You will want to keep the flash drive in a fireproof box or file cabinet that can be locked when not in use.
I’ve been asked to clarify the reasons behind this and here they are:

• Personal files like tax return files contain your Social Security Number and annual income and you simply do not want to inadvertently have that data become public information.
• Like solid state hard disks, jump or flash drives have no mechanical parts like IDE or SATA  hard disks do and they are small enough to be stored in any fireproof box or even off-site in a safe deposit box at your bank.