You, Social Networks, APPs and Viruses

Okay friends.

The number one question we get here at the shop is how come I have up-to-date protection and I still get hijacked. I will try to explain. If you can muddle thru this long post, I will try not to be too technical and give you some tips on how to avoid the traps.

Unless you learn to protect yourself and to clean your computer from time to time you will be doomed. Doomed that is to paying someone else to do it for you. It is not Farmville, Mafia Wars, Super Poke Pets or any of the other APPS fault that you get hacked – it is yours. It is you who clicked the link that takes you to the site that downloads and installs the bad stuff.

Everyday I read status comments on Facebook and MySpace of people complaining about how their favorite APP is not working in one way or another. When your APP does not ‘work’ or act like you expect it to my suggestion is for you to immediately quit trying and close the browser. This is because most of the hijacks are the result of what we call “redirect hacks”.

How it happens.

For you to get from your favorite social networking site to your favorite APP, you have to click a link on a menu bar. That link is what gets hijacked. You think it is taking you to your APP but it is not. The link is rewritten. Basically instead of taking you to www.farmville.com, the link is rewritten to take you to: www.hackmycomputer.com. You may click on the link a hundred times and it works okay each time but on an unlucky day you click it and the hacker robot sees it and you are immediately taken to the hacker site.

Of course you the user are sitting there. Furious that Farmville is not working again and greets you with a blank or incomplete screen. All your tools are not there, your chickens are missing, you have no trees, no fertilize.  What is really happening is the evil hacker site is working hard to install bad software on your computer while you sit there trying to be patient and yet mad at the same time. The longer you stay there the worse it gets.

That brings us to RULE #1.

Don’t sit there cursing the APP. Immediately exit the browser. If you cannot close the browser then turn the darn machine off. If the APP does not react as you expect it to within the first few seconds then do not wait – it might not successfully hijack you this time but eventually it will.

Redirect hacks also infect things like gifts. You know that last nail or board you need to finish the barn. Someone sends you a gift. The nasty ole hijacker knows this and so it watches for the Farmville link for that gift and when it finds it it rewrites it. So instead of taking you to your APP to receive that last nail someone so kindly sent you. It is rewritten to take you to www.av7.com/html (Antivirus 7 is a common malware hack) where good ole Antivirus 7 or Antivirus 2010, or PC Security is secretly installed.

That brings up RULE #2.

Beware gifts. If you click to receive a gift and you do not see that gift pretty quickly – don’t blame the APP. You are getting hacked.

These hacks work well because neither the social networking site nor the APP can do anything about it. They can change the link periodically so the hacker does not know about the changes but no matter what they eventually discover the name of the link that facebook uses to take you to Farmville.

I play Mobsters and I get energy passed to me all the time. The hijack robot knows this and so each time I accept the energy by clicking on the link my computer is at risk. Some days I get a hack attempt every time I try to accept energy. Sometimes not. The big thing is that I know that when things work right, I click on the link I am taken to my comment page and a box shows up saying I successfully received energy. I click ok and move on. On a bad day – it takes too long, never happens, I get a blank page. Then I know to stop immediately and get out of that browser session.

Using your favorite APPS webpage.

Does your favorite APP have a web page. All of mine do. You can go to Farmville.com and play your game. Going to the website does not let you do everything you want to do but it lets you do most of the stuff you need to do to keep your plants alive and well or the cattle fed. By going to the apps website you bypass the risk of the link redirect hack.

On my favorite apps I do everything I can at the website and only access the APP from the social networking site when I absolutely need to – like add friends, manage resources, help harvest. Each of my favorite apps has a shortcut link saved in the favorites of my browser. By directly accessing the website you reduce the chance of being hijacked.

Many of the APPS websites even offer incentives for you to go there so by using the website you not only get game benefits, but you reduce your risk.

Some of the common links I know are: www.farmville.com, www.playdom.com (Mobsters), www.sling.com or www.supperpokepets.com (Super Poke Pets). Many of the apps can be found at www.zynga.com (Mafia Wars, Dragon, etc). So take the time to find out where the website for your favorite APP is and go there to play your game as much as possible. The APP owners are very good at making sure their websites are well managed and safe.

Rule # 3 is very simple.

Make a shortcut in your browser favorites list to your favorite APP and avoid the redirect hack as much as possible. When you do accept energy, gifts, supplies, friends or any such things from your APP then be aware and careful. Do not sit there in hopes that all important cow that somebody sent you from Farmville will eventually show up. Or the page will finish loading. This is not the time to be patient. Kill the processes as soon as you begin to think something is wrong.

If you accept a gift now and the link is bad all is not lost. If you terminate the session and come back to it the likelihood is that when you click the link the next time, it will not be hacked and will give you that all important gift.

The important thing is that no amount of security software can protect you. It is you who are the first line of defense. If I have worked on your computer and cleaned it once then I encourage you to learn to use the tools and be aware. Those two things are your best defense.

About the software suite we installed for you.

Each of the tools we install for you – get to know them. Recognize their alert sounds, dialogue boxes and features. When a window pops up and says your computer is infected. If that window does not have the name of a program from your installed security suite, then STOP – Immediately shut down the computer. Hold the power button down and count to ten. If that does not work the unplug it. DO NOT click on anything or you will allow the malicious software to install.

If you respond quickly – when you restart the machine everything will be okay. If not the clean up should be easily handled by your security suite software. Please remember STOP. Turn off the machine. Turning off the internet or closing the pop up boxes will only let the already downloaded components complete the install. Remember that to be safe you must turn off the machine as quickly as possible.

Last thing.

Even if you have not ‘seen’ anything or nothing triggers your alerts your computer can be hijacked. If things work well the security software will prevent it, the browser will crash, you will lock up on the blank page. But – if your computer is slower than normal and some thing's just seem off then it is likely you are infected. This is why it is important for you to use the tools in your security suite on a regular basis. The hack may not have made it thru today, but the tracking cookie that opens the door may have. Contact us if you have questions about how to use your security suite.

There – you made it all the way through the post. Now you can have fun with your apps and be more in control of your future.

Beta Trial Ends

Well here it is the beginning of March and the beta versions of Windows 7 are coming to an end. From here on it will get more and more annoying. If you are one of our customers who chose to use the beta and have not upgraded to the full version then you need to. Contact us and we will be glad to assist you in getting the software version best suited for your build and the best price to boot.

We certainly can help you with upgrading your operating system instead of going thru the hassle of doing a clean install.

If you are happy with how your system is operating then upgrade is the way to go. You already have what you need and it works so why should we change it.

If you have not purchased your license yet we recommend you consider Windows 7 Home Premium. It will give you everything you want and room to grow. The beta version you have installed is likely to be Windows 7 Ultimate. You will need to have a copy of Ultimate in order to perform an upgrade.

Why Home Premium or above. Boils down to Windows Media Center. Since Windows 7 launched the Media Center portion has taken off. More and more TV, Movies, and Video are moving to streaming. With Blockbuster, Netflix, Hulu and others offering Media Center plug in ability things will get even better.

Also helping matters is the fact that Windows 7 is easy to connect to your big screen TV. That coupled with the ease of sharing files across multiple systems. It is easy to watch what you want when you want.

Need that extra DVR without the money. Then consider adding a tuner card to your PC and using Media Center to manage and record off the air TV shows to watch and stream how ever and when ever you want.

The beta is over but your Windows 7 experience still has some growing to do.

Launch – Here and Gone – HTPC’s

Since the “launch event” is done with Windows 7 seems to be here but quiet and little fan fare. No raging bulls calling for its dismissal and threats of removing it from systems. In all likely hood that is how it will be. Even Apple has nothing to say and its MAC vs. PC commercials are more boring than ever.

The PC World is Changing:

1. Lets talk about Migrating or moving data. How about storage?
2. Media and things done since Windows 7 launch to make the Home Theater PC (HTPC) a reality.
3. Quiet Power and AMD has a new chip that helps.

Migrating and Storage

No matter what type of computer you have the workhorse in the system that is likely to have a mechanical meltdown and that is most sensitive to physical damage is the hard drive.

Hard drive technology is great and an inexpensive and quick hard drive is available to the consumer. So new computers with 500 or more gigabytes of storage are more and more common. The size of the hard drive is a selling point with the consumer thrilled at all the pictures, movies and videos that they can now store.

The risk however is great. The operating system uses a hard drive as a big part of its working memory management, temporary storage and just general scratch pad. Sit for just a few minutes and watch just how much the HD light flickers or remains on steadily. Even when you are doing nothing, the hard drive is hard at work.

While the new designs are safer and better built they are very much overworked by the operating system. So your five hundred gigabytes of pictures, movies and music are at great risk when something goes wrong.

Two approaches help reduce the risk. One is that the operating system only needs space of only a hundred gigabytes or so for a modern system. Give it a nice 160 gig to be nice. Still not spending much money. Then install a five hundred gig or larger drive as a second drive. Then when the main drive crashes; your system is backed up on the secondary drive and your pictures, movies and music are all safe. The added cost to your build is usually less than about $75 at today’s prices for the second drive.

A second approach (which I like) is for you to purchase a USB drive of the size and design that is right for you. It is easy to get a portable drive at 500 gig or more for less than or right at a hundred bucks. I prefer the smaller (2.5 inch) drives like the passport or similar. They fit in my pocket and away we go. The large drives run cooler, are more stable and sit nicely like a book somewhere on the desk. Usually they require a separate cord and power supply.

With this secondary storage you can take your movies,  pictures and music to what computer you want without the hassle of disks, burning software, scratches or just a bunch of shiny disks that seem to grow in an endless pile. If Grandma likes the pictures when you visit, just copy them from your portable hard drive and she is set.

The computer’s hard drive is the heart of the system. Viruses can damage it, malicious software can damage it. Losses of power or power surges can kill them. They are sensitive to electrostatic discharges and sometimes freak accidents. In many cases when the system hard drive fails all data is lost – period.

The only protection is separate and independent backups and storage on a drive that is not the system’s main drive.

New Media Options

Streaming Video is here to stay. Two major players in the streaming market have added plug ins for Windows 7 media center. Hulu (www.hulu.com) and Netflix both have introduced integration to Windows 7 Media Center.

Since their introduction I have been testing both and let me say they are very good additions to the streaming market. Easy to control using an IR (infrared) remote that comes with most HTPC’s they allow control of what goes to the TV easy to manage. Not only that, they handle the playback quality very well to. In most cases an HTPC connects to its respective TV using DVI or HDMI and these new managers support the HD quality very well.

Why would you even consider an HTPC? A reasonable question indeed. The answer is simple. Cost and savings. At prevailing prices a custom built HTPC can easily be built for less than say a thousand dollars. With a good integrator such as Boxee or Windows Media center to manage the choices an HTPC can easily replace any satellite or cable box.

When connected to a 6 mbs or higher internet connection and an on air digital tuner – an HTPC can supply all your viewing needs, provide DVR (TIVO) service where you need it and you control it all from your favorite chair with a IR remote control or a keyboard and mouse (of course designed with the HTPC in mind)

Streaming means fewer or no commercials. Watch the show when you want and most of all turn off the cable/satellite TV bill. For me that would be a 100+ dollar a month reduction in payments. So in the first year the HTPC will have paid for itself.

AMD helps make HTPC better.

On the technical side of things just this week AMD released a low power quad core chip for the AM3 socket. At 2.6 and 2.8 gig Hz for the respective price ranges of 100 and 130 dollars they are a nice addition to the market. Low power means less fan noise and smaller cooling requirements. Making that slim HTPC case that sits in place of the cable box easier to achieve.

Right now I have an HTPC bench build that I am testing but so far the new chip, Windows 7 and media center integration seem to work well. People who have seen the video have been well pleased with the quality and where it is coming from. This week will test the digital tuner aspects.

Later on when I have finished playing with my bench build I will post its specs and estimated cost. I do know already that it will pay for itself if I were to use it to replace my cable box in less than ten months.

Give us a call and let us help you replace your cable box. Save yourself some money and in the process get rid of some of that remote clutter.

Windows 7 – DO IT

Okay – the point here is if you are still on the fence about upgrading your computer and need a push then here are some things to help:

1. If the machine you have is running Vista now then upgrade. You will not regret it.
1. Speed
2. Features
3. Looks
4. System efficiency
2. Hulu and Netflix
1. Hulu has the Hulu Desktop for Windows 7. A stand alone Media Center based player that plays your selected show, allows you to build a queue of shoes to view and remembers where you left off. Not to mention that the quality of the stream is greatly improved.
2. Netflix is using the integrated approach to Media Center. It is actually operating in side the program and becomes one of your selections to view movies. The benefits are pretty clear: better quality picture, remembers where you are in the movie, and keeps track of movies in your queue so that you can better see what your choices are.
3. Media Player now plays all windows media files. Included in the codecs is legacy support for many files – including .avi – that past versions of the operating system has discontinued. Now play your DVD’s and other video mediums without third party programs in most cases.
4. Direct DVD authoring has never been offered but with Windows DVD maker you can turn your family pictures and videos into a DVD for family and friends.
5. Last but not least is that Windows is now able to maintain security with Microsoft software. With Windows Essentials Virus protection, Spam blockers, Popup blocker, and antimalware tools in IE8 you are able to safely surf the internet without security concerns. Best yet – It is all free.

While there will always be detractors and nothing is perfect. With Windows 7, Microsoft has you the best operating system possible. Perhaps even stop those apple gurus from complaining and win a few over.

If you need help with the shift – contact us. We will upgrade your computer to Windows 7 and match the Bestbuy advertized upgrade cost of $40.00. Plus for $25.00 more we will protect you from virus and malware with our exclusive 12 month guarantee.

 

The Weak Link

One of the most common questions we get in the shop is how a computer gets infected. It is simple enough but not always because someone is visiting bad sites or doing questionable things with thier computer. The big no no is porn and not so often it is NOT the culprit.

The truth is that good people get hooked into situations that get thier computer hacked, stolen, hijacked, slowed down – pick one. It happens at one time or another to all of us. There are rare occasions these days that the alarms and whistles go off and I have to remember to follow the rules.

Microsoft released their version of Antivirus software this month. I have been testing it on the home unit to see how it works. The install went well and it was simple enough. It is pretty slender in that it does not bog down the system and remains very much in the back ground. Later I will actually launch an attack and see how it handles it. Right now though it is doing one thing I like and that is to protect quietly and not be a pain in the tail.

Time will tell how the software works. It seems good so far. Microsoft seems willing to offer it for free while saying it is not competing with other software. The company says it is targeting people that normally do not install software for virus protection after the trials run out. There is no announcement that Microsoft will push the software by making it part of the new PC package. I think that would be a good idea but I am not in Microsoft’s loop.

Rules

The number one weak link in the virus process is the user. With user account control and other features built into the system it is harder and harder for malicious software to do damage by itself. Time was that all I had to do was get the software on the machine and tell it to run. Now I cannot do that. UAC requieres that for certain add-ins and stuff that the User has to approve the operation. Hence the operator has to say YES.

That is why you must pay attention to popups, email, download buttons and those kind of things. Most people just click and assume that it is what they think it is. Now the software lies to you making you think it is what you want. That makes it harder because partly the user has to be smarter and develope trust issues. If something asks to be installed, ran or allow access and you the user did not do something to start the request then the answer is always NO or CANCEL. ALWAYS.

Aunt Maybell may be on your friends list but that attachment she sends you may not be what you really want to see. I only open attachments from people I know and that usually I am expecting.

A Royal Pain

So when customers tell us how dumb they feel, how much they do not know – we listen. That is why on our card we give not only our phone numbers but our emai. If there is something that you want an answer to, write it in an email and we will let you know if we think something is safe or is not. If it is okay we will tell you. REMEMBER – we are the one that guarantee that your computer will not get infected. So if we say yes then we accept the risk with you and we will fix it. That may make the pain worthwhile and the little bit of time delay while you verify information with your technician.

User Account Control (UAC) is not any fun when it nags you about starting programs and we know this. In Windows 7 the UAC feature has been fine tuned to keep you safe and not nag you all the time.

Do not be afraid to say no, cancel or delete suspect files. If you need them then they are there. If you want them then there are safe ways to get them. Even if it means we have to teach Aunt Maybell about viruses and malware and spyware.

Where is my mail?


What - no mail client in Windows 7.

The answer is yes there is no mail client in Windows 7 and there is reason to be glad. That reason is Windows Live Mail. A separate software suite that the user has to decide to download and install. In the package comes the mail client, movie maker, photo email, Silverlight and a few other bells and whistles to choose from. Yes - I did say choose. You can download all or none.


Many of our clients are involved with their families and the advent of social networking sites have made the number of pictures available to me - the budding grandpa - simply amazing. So many that keeping up is tough and finding a way to share them with others tougher yet. That is but one of the reasons that Windows Live Mail is so much fun. Yes I said fun.


The auto connect feature pretty much makes setting up the account a breeze. Better yet is so far it handles all eight of my email accounts in one client. All I did was click add. Insert email address provide password and then click finish. Email accounts added and Windows Live Mail syncs all the clients and presents me with the unread mail in a straight forward easy to find list. So every email I used to access different ways each time are each right there at my fingertips. Read, reply, forward or save.


Contacts are just as easy. Each email client tends to collect its own contact list. My yahoo mail is my main one and has all my family and many friends. Along with each email client it is just as easy to import the contact list into Windows Live Mail. Now yahoo still wants to be converted to comma separated values and the option to build the contact/address book is not as easy as setting up the email. But pretty close.


Mail - who to send to from where and how. Windows Live Mail keeps track of it for you. Each of my mail accounts are designed to help me. Yahoo is friends and family. The address rarely changes and makes it easier to keep up with them and older friends. G-mail is more modern and I tend to use it for the business stuff I do on the web like registering software and the like. Of course AOL has been with me as long as the internet has and it is a throwaway address I just use to track things and junk mail. The cool thing is that when you reply to an email, Windows Live Mail sends the reply via the mail address you received the mail from and in the same format - that means your friend can get your email from an address they know and in the format they are used to reading it in. Previous clients assume a default mail server and all outgoing mail is processed thru that server. Only new mail - that you generate is automatically sent via the default client. So with this new feature, the bells and whistles associated with your mail are still there. Your signature, footnotes, emoticons and stuff automatically stay with the client.


The fun in this is that everything you save is there on your computer. You can save password emails, license keys, inspirational thoughts - whatever category you choose, you can save the email and it is there. In Windows 7 - it is automatically backed up and so if a crash happens those emails are still safe. Many of these features were included in Microsoft's Office Product but face it what average person buys Office for their home PC. Live Mail incorporates the best of all Microsoft email clients into one place.


Let's talk about Photo Mail. Attaching photos to send to Aunt Rae or Me Maw was a daunting task. If you made the pictures too big they might not go through. If you sent too many then they might get lost. Then of course on the receiving end there is the question of how to open them, why can't I see them or how do I save them. Way too many questions. Sometimes you felt lucky if you got to see the pictures at all. In Photo Mail you can select the pictures you want to send. Live Mail makes it easy to decide what size you want to send. If you want to send print quality then big is better. If you want to show and tell then something smaller will work.


How about a slide show. How about an interesting frame or enhancement. What about captions and descriptions, not just a file name. All neat things to include with a picture. Now Live Mail will now do all that and more. In a matter of minutes you can send two to twenty pictures to Me Maw and she will get to see them - exactly how you intended. Even if you choose to send slideshows and the receiving computer is not able to do slideshows, your recipients can still see them the way you intended. If the computer on the other end needs help to do the slide show then the help is there. If the receiving computer needs help then the slideshow you worked so hard on is automatically ported to an open browser window using Silverlight and your slide show is right there ready to go.


Better still Windows Live Mail does not run on just Windows 7. Windows XP and Vista are supported too. So your email friends and family can also use Live Mail while accessing all those wonderful features you are discovering.


Windows Live Mail is just this: The advantage of a web based mail client that is not limited to one email address. Give Windows Live Mail a try and I bet you will be sending a link to Grandma in no time. If nothing else click the link and read the headline - like they stole it from me.

Everything in one place!

Just so you know - I don't get one cent from saying this. What I do get is that if you try it, like it, and bring a smile to someone's face with that cute picture that is lurking in your My Pictures folder then it is all worth it.

Is Software in the OS Important

Officially the website is up and running a week now. The good part is that the basics are done and now there is just the details to fill in. Thankfully things on the internet tend to hang around so you can likely find us anytime you want. The question for the day is what to add to the tips blog.


How about the answer to a simple question that has no simple answer. That is: Do I want to move to Windows 7?

The simple answer is a resounding YES!!!

In the three years since Vista hit the market and lots of people snubbed it (thier mistake) for what ever reason - things have changed dramatically. Unless you want to stay in a ten year old world where the new technology and hardware options are not even on the radar. When XP was written there was so much stuff that we could not imagine that are available today. I am not even going to waste time with why you may still be with XP and not in Vista. While what is under the hood is great it is what you see on the screen, how fast it gets there, how safe you are and how much fun you have that are important.

Media

When we first saw Media Center as part of the Windows operating system it was hard to imagine a day when it would become something to embrace. Today we can stream virtually any video content anywhere we want it. Our complaint with Media Center was that it was slow and cumbersome. Today I can set in front of my 42 inch plasma, infared remote in hand wisking through menus to find the photo, song or video I want to play. Stream from Netflix or Hulu with the click of a remote.

In todays world the media is there but can you get it. The answer is yes, but at a price. Processing video to display on a monitor, HDTV, Projection System, or even to a cell phone requires some power. Memory and graphics processors come to mind. New hardware is using new technology such as DDR2/3/4/5/6 memory, GPU's with one gigahertz speeds, Multicore processors are the normal now, and we have yet to address 64 bit technology.

None of the hardware features listed above are addressed by Windows XP. They just begin to be touched on with Vista. Windows 7 embraces each and everyone of them and more that are yet to come. With hardware costs spiralling downward software becomes more and more important. When someone comes to me and wants to build an new computer for them. Requesting all the latest in hardware technology along with the sleekest case and displays only to add: "But I don't want Windows Vista (Windows 7).

WOW

To be honest I am no Microsoft fan. I did not even use Windows until Millenium Editon. It was DOS all the way. I came to realize that progress meant change and the old stuff was going away with the old hardware technology. So I could stay a dinosaur or move with the times.

So the question is really this. Why buy eight gig of memory when only three of it will be used by software. Why purchase a 3.0 SATA drive when the software was written to support IDE and only later updated to SATA 1.0. So you want a BluRay reader or maybe even a burner. Was blue ray even on the radar when Windows XP was the rage.

You need that one gig DDR4 memory graphics card with a 750 mghz gpu to run that new game. You are a smart person so you buy it. Then run home plug it in only to learn that the frame rate you expected is not there. Only to find out that your new technology is hamstrung by a decade old 32 bit operating system.

Features

Saftey, security and stability. The old Microsoft left those parts to third party software and for the user to be smart enough to keep things safe. After a few rough falls Microsoft finally realized it could not rely on third party software to keep IT'S operating system secure. The customer does not want to be boggled down keeping up with and endlessly changing field of rules.

Windows 7 backs itself up - in background. The only time you notice is when you need it. Not only does it back up files, but it backs up a complete system image. Adding spam filtering, pop up blocking, script blocking and many under the hood tweeks. The Windows 7 system is the safest yet. The biggest (in shear numbers) operating system in the world will surely come under attack by those who engage in such things. With modern update proceedures and software operations that do take some getting used to the only unsafe way to get infected is for you to open the door and invite them in.

No longer relying on hardware manufacturers to write drivers, Microsoft Update now updates and posts its own drivers to correct problems up front. To help with this the user can elect to send crash data to Microsoft what allows for faster recognition of software/driver issues and subsequent correction.

Out of the box, add a good antivirus program, Windows 7 is the safest and most secure ever. No trial periods for the end user to forget about and leave the system secure.

Snip it. Now that one little tool is the coolest yet. In this media age we see pictures, texts and other stuff on our screen that is not just a simple picture we can cut and paste. Snip it will let you capture anything - yes I said anything - that you can see on your computer screen. No matter what it takes to make that screen snipit will copy the selected area and save it to any file format you select or to the clipboard to paste where you might choose. No more print screen or screen caps that you have to work around to get to work. Snipit is easy. Simply open the program, draw the box and save. Done

Out of the box Windows 7 plays more media without extra software. Windows 7 will play a retail DVD without installing third party players. Or purchasing a driver pack. If you are one who uses Windows Media Center Classic to play certain files - not now. Windows 7 can do it.

Sum it up!

Give that new computer dream of yours a chance. Go find you a reliable technician who will build your computer from the gound up. If he or she says avoid Windows 7 then I suggest you move on. If you put a high tech fuel injected V-8 engine in a Model T -- It is still a Modle T.

Still have an issue with Windows 7. Hey drop me line with the problem you have or the question and I will answer it. In the end let me help you match the software with the hardware and make your computing experience the best it can be.

That is what it is all about here at Computer Associates of Abilene.