Then, you get a program on your desktop, or actually pop up called “Windows Repair”.  Windows Repair seems to run through your computer and as these things do, it tells you you have a million problems.  Or fourteen, or whatever.

You run the program, and later find your desktop icons have disappeared.

Then you look at your start menu, and all your program files have disappeared.

You look on your C-drive, and your program files folder is gone!

No…. they aren’t gone.

What’s happened is that all your important icons, files and folders have been rendered invisible by Windows Repair.

It’s a really painful process to put everything back right.  Very difficult to remove, but not impossible.

Hopefully the antivirus programs will update quickly to be able to deal with this.

If you’ve never used a “virtual machine” (like Microsoft’s Virtual PC, here’s a quick rundown.  It’s software that takes whatever amount of drive space you choose, and dedicates it to the creation of a “virtual computer”.   When you run the virtual computer, you see a screen that looks just like a computer that you just switched on.  It has it’s own BIOS settings (those words you see flash on the screen before Windows boots) and whatever RAM you dedicated to the virtual OS shows up in the BIOS, along with the hard drive size.  From that point you can install any operating system that you want, and give it as much RAM or hard drive space as needed.  I have mine set to grow dynamically as I add programs or copy files to the virtual C-drive.   You can find a few free ones here:  thefreecountry.com/emulators/pc.shtml

I would guess that 90% of my calls have nothing to do with hardware and are mostly software related issues:  Virus problems, slow systems, device driver issues, things like that.

Now, imagine if all computer sold were really just host hardware for a virtual hard drive.  There would be a real hard drive, but it would just contain one file – your virtual hard drive.   This would allow computer “repair” to be so much simpler than it is now.  Since the price of gas is considerably more expensive than the price of bandwidth, it would be easier just to upload your virtual hard drive to the computer guy, let him fix it, then when he’s done, you just download the repaired system.  Once you get a chance to check it out, and make sure it’s working and all your files are there, you delete the system that isn’t working.

All that would have to happen to make this a reality is for a standard to develop for motherboard and processor technologies, to make things somewhat more interchangable.  For example, no matter what version of Linux I try on my Acer quad-core, it fails.  I can’t install any of them, I can’t run any of the live DVDs, I can’t even get them to install on a virtual PC on my system.  Clearly, something in my system is using some proprietary something that no Linux flavor is able to get past.  Things like that would have to be eliminated in order for worldwide virtual computing to work.

Anyway, it’s a good thought, worthy of writing down.  I am going to try taking my Windows XP virtual machine to another computer, and see how it runs.  I’ll report back.

Here in Kelowna, Windows Media Center detected that I am using Shaw Cable for my TV (that’s not a plug, the others I’m sure are just as  good).  It also detected that I have Shaw Digital Cable as opposed to Shaw analog cable.  Then it retrieved (up to) two weeks of  TV listings that I could browse through, using the Microsoft Certified Media Center remote control that came with my Happauge 1800 TV Tuner card.  Find something I like and want, I hit the little red “record” button.  Find a series I want to record, just hit the button twice, and Windows Media Center remembers to record each episode.  I can set it to record it every single time, or I can tell it just record episodes I haven’t recorded.

It’s great!  There are challenges though.  For one thing, it uses a DRM system.  DRM neans “Digital Rights Management” and it’s a hard-coded security tool some higher end TV networks use to ensure that recorded TV programs don’t turn into black market DVDs.  It ruins the picture if you try to burn a protected program to a DVD or copy it to a portable device or move it to another computer… you can only copy it to your own computer.  You can take the commercials out, but you can’t take it with you.

Another challenge, to be addressed in my next post, “Give Windows Media Center .wtv Files the One-Two Punch!” is that the files are saved in XP  and Vista one format, .dvr-ms, while Windows 7 uses a different filetype, .wtv.  So any programs you may be using in Windows Vista or XP to remove commercials from your tv shows won’t work when you update to Windows 7.  There’s a fix to that and I’ll talk about that in my next post, “Give Windows 7 .wtv Files the One-Two Punch!”

What I mean is, I’ll get a call from someone who tells me “my computer is slow”.  When I get more details, I find that it’s not the “computer” at all – it’s Internet Explorer, the standard web browser that installs with Microsoft Windows.  There are many things that slow IE down, not the least of which is all the “updates” Microsoft makes to each new edition.   that, and the new compatibility crap that has to be built in to standards-breaking Internet Explorer.  Microsoft can’t just release a product that follows international standards.  It has to create new standards of its own, which break international standards so badly, MS has to include a “compatibility” feature so that PROPERLY-built web sites look right in their ridiculously bloated browser.

With all this nonsense going on with Internet Explorer, it’s no wonder it craps out so often.  And when it does, it often can’t be fixed without reinstalling the Windows operating system.  I’ve seen cases where you click the IE icon, and it’s two full minutes before you can actually surf the web at speeds that are unbearably slow.  And so people blame their computer or their internet connection, when neither is at fault.

Do yourself a big favor:  try these three browsers.  ALWAYS have more than one browser on your computer so that if your only browser dies, you can still access the Internet with a backup.

Mozilla Firefox (mozilla.org/firefox)

Google Chrome (google.com/chrome)

Apple Safari (apple.com/safari)

Of the three, Firefox is the only one that will import your IE Favorites (which it calls “bookmarks”) and even your stored usernames and passwords.  It’s more feature-rich than the other two.

Many times, my customers are amazed when I install Firefox – I carry the install files of these browsers with me on service calls in case there’s no other way to get them – that suddenly the browser opens quickly and the Internet is fast again, and all their favorites are there.

The one fly in the ointment is that none of these browsers ships with the Adobe flash player, which powers Youtube videos, a billion different web sites, and many safe online games.   I think Mozilla has automated the system somewhat, but just in case, go to adobe.com/flashplayer to get that plugin.  Use the browser you want to plug it in to… and make sure you go to the site in all the various browsers to make sure each is properly equipped.

Apple Safari is the standard Mac browser.  I find it very fast and lightweight, but lacking in features.  Google Chrome is very similar, fast and easy.

And remember to practice safe browsing by keeping a PAID antivirus program on your system.

You can get affordable web solutions at the Kelowna Computer Repair and Web Design site.  Forget about scammers who charge you a thousand dollars for a couple of day’s easy work.  Forget about liars who collect the full amount up front, then leave you hanging at the end, with no recourse whatsoever.  Forget about leaving message after message and not getting any reply from your web designer or host.

David Lynch, known in the Okanagan for five years as “The Friendly Computer Guy”, has extensive experience in all aspects web development:

• Branding your business
• Choosing and obtaining the right domain name (it’s not always the name of your business that matters in a domain name!)
• Setting that domain name up on a server, known as “hosting”
• Analyzing your web needs (if you don’t need a whiz-bang site, why should you pay for one?!?)
• Web site design, development and upkeep
• Training YOU to manage your web site
• S.E.O. (Search Engine Optimization) – just because you build it, does NOT mean they will come!
• Consulting – sometimes we just need someone to talk to

David Lynch has a keen knack for branding, a good eye for clean design, and a talent for organizing information that is nothing less than amazing.  He can help you get your web presence affordably, quickly and efficiently.   He’s an extremely honest and ethical business person, and I guarantee that you will be happy with his services or my name isn’t David Lynch =)

So remember to visit friendlycomputer.ca not just for your computer needs, but your web needs as well.

Happy New Year, Kelowna!

Unlike most free antivirus programs, they are allowing business use of the program on up to ten PCs for free.  There doesn’t seem to be an upsell like other “free” antivirus programs – meaning, this isn’t a mangled version of the real Microsoft product that exists to get you to buy their paid one.  If you have to have more than ten copies in a business setting, Microsoft does have a higher-end paid business product.

Of course, the big question is, does this free product work?   I don’t know.  I’ll give it a spin and let you know what I think.  I’m not certain I have any confidence in this software whatsoever, because Windows Defender, which packages with Vista and Windows 7, is completely useless.  Were it not completely useless, Microsoft would not be releasing another online security package.

Let’s hope that this one is better than the other free packages out there.  Frankly, Microsoft should have taken this internet security issue by the horns a long time ago.   Nearly every computer in the world runs Microsoft Windows, and this is due in large part to Microsoft’s bullying, monopolistic practices.  Microsoft, the way I see it, is responsible ethically and morally for every dime that has been spent on internet security on Windows computers.  If they weren’t so busy trying to corner the market on every type of software that comes out, maybe they could have spent more time being concerned about the security of their users.

I guess the profit just isn’t there yet.  But with many Windows users switching to Mac computers (not all of them happy about the choice by the way), Microsoft probably figures it’s time for them to invest a dollar or two in their customer’s well-being.

Here’s the link to the software if you want to try it out yourself:  http://microsoft.com/security_essentials

Of course your next question is “What do you recommend?”

Well, I have to say, every program that I’ve found, someone has some negative issues with.  It might block malware from getting on your system, but it also blocks your email from coming through.  Or it works great as an email scanner, but you get malware off of the web while it’s installed.

I have to say, I have not found one product that “most” of my customers are happy with.

But here are a couple I’m recommending.  I won’t put links to them, just Google “Download _______” and you’ll find them:

Kaspersky

AVG (paid version only!)

Zone Alarm (available at Futureshop or Staples)

Norton / Symantec

McAfee

It’s a jungle out there…..

I installed the latest version of ICQ to communicate with people on a particular project, then uninstalled it when the project was over.  ICQ when installed, hijacked my search provider, and “enhanced” it with it’s own “ICQ search”.  Even after uninstalling the product, it left it’s hijacked version of my browser, and no matter how many times I delete it from my search providers, ICQ Search keeps coming back again.

I reinstalled the product to see if there was anywhere I allowed it to hijack my search provider.  Turned out that there is a link during the installation to “advanced settings” where you are informed that your search provider will be hijacked unless you uncheck the appropriate box.  That option should be wide out in the open during installation, and the fact that it wasn’t leads me to believe that ICQ 7 has been taken over by scammers at best.  The fact that you can’t remove it’s product establishes for me even further ICQs malicious intent.

Because ICQ has been around for so long, its likely that the virus scanners have not yet added it to their lists of malware to be protected against.  But the latest version of ICQ, ICQ 7, is definitely malware in my book leaving behind a trojan that keeps reinstalling the hijacked search tool.

Here’s a Google search for ICQ clones.

Don’t use ICQ – you’ll never get rid of it.

A laptop will cost a third to a half more than a comparable desktop.  The same power in an $800 desktop computer will require $1200 in laptop price.  This is because it costs a lot to miniaturize all the parts.  Smaller hard drive, smaller motherboard, smaller overall design.  Smaller has always meant more expensive in the computer world.

As well, a laptop, due to its compact design, has less air flow than a desktop.  Less air flow equals hotter components.  Hotter components equals shorter life span.  I would consider myself lucky to have a laptop made today, that is still running in five to seven years. (today’s cheapest laptops won’t even do that)  A desktop can last seven to ten.

Laptops require power supplies.  These power supplies can run a couple hundred a pop.  As one who has seen one worthless power supply after another, I can tell you that it’s another opportunity for you to be screwed by your computer company.  For example, the scambags at Dell will allow you to run your computer with a non-Dell charger, but notify you up front “your battery may not charge”.  Your battery DOES not charge, unless you shell out the bucks for a genuine 65-watt Dell charger.  There are some knock-offs that are supposed to have a chip that fools the laptop’s “Dell screws their customers” circuitry, but I know that none of these are meant to last as long as the laptop itself, and before you know it you’re out for another one.  Well, seems that way to some of my customers anyway.

A laptop – for some reason I haven’t figured out yet – has more problems with Vista and Windows 7 startup.  Since Vista, Microsoft has had to offer a “startup repair” routine.  Sometimes this gets caught in an endless loop, and you have to reinstall Vista or Windows 7.  If you have a Vista laptop, you are far more likely to know what I am talking about than if you have a Vista desktop.

Overall, in price, longevity and performance, a desktop is your best bet.  If you need the mobility of a laptop, then it justifies the price.  But if you are just going to set it on your desk, and it’s going to stay there a long time, you’re better off with a desktop system on the floor.

Imagine getting hundreds or thousands of calls on your home, business, or cell phone, tying up the lines. And when you answer, you hear anything from dead air to recorded messages, advertisements, or even phone sex menus.
It’s annoying, no doubt. But it could be more than that—it could be a sign that you’re being victimized by the latest scam making the rounds. This ”telephone denial-of-service attack“ could be the precursor to a crime targeting your bank accounts.
Denial-of-service attacks, by themselves, are nothing new—computer hackers use them to take down websites by flooding them with large amounts of traffic.
In a recent twist, criminals have transferred this activity to telephones, using automated dialing programs and multiple accounts to overwhelm the phone lines of unsuspecting citizens.
share.gifWhy are they doing it? Turns out the calls are simply a diversionary tactic: while the lines are tied up, the criminals—masquerading as the victims themselves—are raiding the victims’ bank accounts and online trading or other money management accounts.
Here, in a nutshell, is how the whole thing works:
*      Weeks or months before the phone calls start, a criminal uses social engineering tactics or malware to elicit personal information from a victim that this person’s bank or financial institution would have—like account numbers and passwords. Perhaps the victim responded to a bogus e-mail phishing for information, inadvertently gave out sensitive information during a phone call, or put too much personal information on social networking sites that are trolled by criminals.
*      Using technology, the criminal ties up the victim’s various phone lines.
*      Then, the criminal either contacts the financial institution pretending to be the victim…or pilfers the victim’s online bank accounts using fraudulent transactions. Normally, the institution calls to verify the transactions, but of course they can’t get through to the victim over the phone.
*      If the transactions aren’t made, the criminals sometimes re-contact the financial institution as the victim and ask for it to be done. Or they add their own phone number to victims’ accounts and just wait for the bank to call.
By the time the victim or the financial institution realizes what happens, it’s too late.
Law enforcement and industry response
While the lines are tied up, the criminals are raiding victims’ accounts.
The FBI first learned about this emerging scheme through one of its private industry partners, which told us how a Florida dentist lost $400,000 from his retirement account after a denial-of-service attack on his phones.
And as of April of this year, there has definitely been a noticeable surge in telephone denial-of-service attacks, with numerous incidents having been reported in several Eastern states.
To help fight these schemes, the FBI has teamed up with the Communication Fraud Control Association—comprised of security professionals from communication providers—to analyze the patterns and trends of telephone denial-of-service attacks, educate the public, and identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
Ultimately, though, it’s individual consumers and small- and medium-sized businesses on the front line of this battle. So take precautions: never give out personal information to an unsolicited phone caller or via e-mail; change online banking and automated telephone system passwords frequently; check your account balances often; and protect your computers with the latest virus protection and security software.
And if you think you may have been targeted by a telephone denial-of-service attack, contact your financial institution and your telephone provider, and file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.