Category Archives: Software

Beware of ustechsupport.com

Well, here we go again.  CyberDefender, (a known malware and rogueware company), has brought up a new website called ustechsupport.com.  This new website wants you to call them and let them take control of your computer.  Then they hope to sell you a “protection package” to help keep your computer “clean” and fast.  It’s funny how this new website has the same photographs of “actual users”, that the other CyberDefender television ads and websites use.  Here’s my other posts, Antivirus Scams & More Malware Scams, about the different websites and scams this company perpetrates on unsuspecting computer users.

WARNING: Avoid these scam artists at all costs.  If your computer is infected with viruses, spyware, and rogueware, the last thing you should do is be on the Internet!  Unplug your computer and use a “clean” computer to download tools that will help you get clean.  Here’s a list of some of the best FREE tools out there on the Internet:

There are a host of other tools that you can find on the Internet, but these two, (IMHO) are the best.

We these two tools, you should be able to get most Windows based system clean.  It has been my experience, (over 20 years of repairing computers), that some Windows based viruses become so embeded in the operating system, that your computer may need to be “wiped and reloaded”.  Wiped & Reloaded means to back up your data and settings, (not programs), reinstall the operating system, (and all the patches that it needs), reinstall a reliable Antivirus program, and restore your data and settings.  I have seen shops that charge upwards of $250 to do all this, but when I had a repair shop in Colorado, I would charge $90 to do this even though sometimes it took 5 or 6 hours to complete the job.  (I still have a friend in Colorado that does this for $75 even today).

Here is a just a short list of articles about CyberDefender:

Keep your system “clean” by doing operating system updates on a weekly timetable, update your antivirus software every day, and scanning everything that comes into your computer, such as downloaded programs, emails, USB drives, CD’s, etc.  Being vigilant will keep your computer clean and safe, easier to get clean if and when your computer does get infected.

Mepis 8.5 OS 64bit

This morning I downloaded the new Mepis 8.5 OS 64bit version, and installed on the Dell Inspiron 1501.  I had the original 80GB SATA Hard Drive that came with this Dell, so I installed it on that drive to test it thoroughly.  Over the years I tried a lot of different Linux distributions, but I always come back to Mepis, as it seems to be extremely reliable and stable.

After installing and configuring the wireless adaptor, I was quickly on the Internet and downloading a few patch files that were needed.  For a long time, most Linux distros have quite frankly been a pain in the ass to configure a wireless connection to the Internet.  Starting about 2 years ago, most of the popular distros have simplified the configuration process, so that now it is a no brainer.

I don’t seem to be having any screen issues with this version of Mepis, as some of the current distros, (Ubuntu and Fedora included), want to “freak out” on the ATI video chipset that is built into this notebook.  Everything seems to work “right out of the box” which is comforting for novice users.  Linux has always had an uphill battle competing with the two “for profit” operating systems, Microsoft and Apple.  Linux doesn’t have millions to spend on marketing and lobbyists, or for convincing the public that it needs the latest and greatest bells and whistles.  What it does have is large grass roots support from individuals, software developers, and smart corporations that don’t want to be tied to a particular vendor for their computer operating systems.

If you have an older computer, either a desktop or laptop, try downloading a Linux distribution and playing with it.  Start at DistroWatch, do your research, go to the particular distro website, do the download, and try it out.  Most distros have a “live CD or live USB key” option, that allow you to “try out” the distro before installing it.

A side benefit of running Linux as your operating system, is that it makes it impossible to infect your computer with Windows based viruses or malware.  Have fun playing with your new Linux box and enjoy the freedom of open source software!

BTW, I wrote this post using the Dell laptop running Mepis.

Dell Hell, again!

Many times in the course of trying to fix someone else’s Dell computer, I have found myself in what can only be described as “Dell Hell”.   DH is the situation you find yourself in when you cannot find the support files or instructions that you need to fix the problem(s) correctly.  On the Internet you can find many references to DH, most having to do with dealing with Dell’s telephone sales or India based customer support.  In my case, this is how the most recent episode unfolded:

I was experiencing some “issues” with my Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop, circa 2007.  It came with 2GB of RAM, an AMD Dual Core CPU,  an 80GB Hard Drive and Windows XP Home.  In mid 2010, I installed a 250GB Hard Drive, and Windows 7 Home Premium, (the 64bit version).  Even though Dell does not have any support, (driver), files for this model running Windows 7, everything worked, (except for the scroll function on the trackpad).  Carolyn had been using this laptop without any problems for over 6 months.  Without warning, Internet Explorer 8 started crashing on a regular basis, along with trouble getting the computer to “wake up” from sleep mode.  Thinking that perhaps Microsoft had downloaded a patch that was causing the problem, I restored the computer back 1 week, but the problems still persisted.  I then went back another week, but to no avail.

I rummaged through my linux CD’s, and found one that has a memory tester as a boot program.  After running the memtest, it found that one stick of the RAM had errors.  I removed that stick, and Carolyn continued to use the laptop.  All the problems went away, but it was noticeably slower.  Dell’s website says that 2GB of RAM is max for this model, but there are lots of folks on the Internet that say they have 4GB installed, with no problems.  So me being adventurous, I ordered 4GB of RAM from Buy.com, and within a week, (with their FREE shipping), I had the RAM in my hands.  Putting both 2GB sticks it got me a blank screen with no beep codes, but no booting the OS either.  Removing the 2GB stick from slot B, and then the laptop would boot correctly.  No matter what combination I tried, I could only get the notebook to work with 2GB of RAM.

Switching gears, I then went to Dell’s website to look for BIOS updates.  The BIOS is the Basic Input Output System for any computer.  All computer devices have a BIOS.  Since “updating” the BIOS can solve certain problems, (like seeing more memory), it was worth a shot.  Sure enough, Dell had two updates to the BIOS on this particular model, one update marked as “critical”.   I downloaded both updates, planning to do them incrementally, and tried to install them.  Most BIOS updates have to be installed from boot/DOS level, but these particular Phoenix BIOS updates came only with a Windows installer.  Well, after messing with the Windows updater for several passes, and dealing with the various “error” messages that it generated, I was not having any luck.

Being the brilliant technician that I am, I decided to give the “DOS” version a try.  Following the instructions on Dell’s website, I prepared a 3.5″ floppy boot disk.  (Yes, I have a USB external floppy disk drive for just these occasions.)  Dell’s instructions say to copy the complete BIOS file to the floppy disk.  Now friends, if you can figure out how to copy a 3.4MB file onto a 1.44MB floppy disk, please enlighten me!  Frustrated, I decided to search the Internet for a solution.  After running into numerous postings of folks with the same BIOS problem that I was having, I decided that this laptop will have to live with only 2GB of RAM installed.

Better late than never

About 5 years ago, in the middle of a brutal Colorado winter, I decided to rip all the music CD’s that we had into MP3 format, get them on a hard drive, and organize it all.  I never got into music “file sharing” like the original Napster or any of the other incarnations of torrent downloads, not only because they were and are illegal, but as a computer repair business, I had seen too many viruses getting transmitted to unsuspecting clients.

All in all, our music collection totaled a little over 22GB of MP3’s.  Other than playing them on our computers, we never had a portable MP3 player, until now.  As a Christmas present to myself, I purchased a used 6th generation iPod Classic with an 80GB hard drive from a reliable seller on Ebay.  The 2000 Ford Windstar van that we drive has a non-functional CD player in it, but a functioning cassette player.  I bought a cassette adaptor for the iPod so that we can use it in the van.  I also bought an adaptor to plug the iPod into our home stereo system.

Before I loaded our music collection onto my Macbook, I made two backup copies of the “clean” MP3’s.  After importing the MP3’s into iTunes, I connected the iPod and downloaded our music collection to it.  Carolyn and I are having a ball creating “playlists” of our favorite tunes.   One of the things I really like about the iPod is the ability to download audio and video from our favorite TV programs.

So there it is, Carolyn and I are finally listening to our iPod, only about 10 years behind the times.

Using Thunderbird for email

Being someone who has a lot of email addresses, I am constantly on the lookout for the “best” email program to help me manage my accounts.  With the advent of Windows 7, Microsoft decided not to include an email client in the base installation, forcing users to download “Windows Live Mail“.  I’ve used WLM for a while, but it seemed to give me the dreaded “Program not responding” error messages a lot.

As most of you know, I’m a big fan of FOSS, (Free and Open Source Software), so I thought I would give Mozilla’s Thunderbird a try.  I’ve been using Thunderbird on my MacBook for over a year now, and it is so much better than the stock email client that comes with OSX.

(Side note:  Over the last 6 years, I’ve either used a Linux computer running Thunderbird, or now my MacBook as my primary email computer.  Doing this eliminates the effects of Windows based email viruses.)

I like Thunderbird’s ability to manage multiple email accounts, when correctly set up, it sends email to the appropriate inbox, not lumping everything into a global inbox.  Years ago, when I used Outlook Express, I would have to set up different “identities”, and also run Mailwasher to deal with the SPAM.  Thunderbird does a wonderful job of dealing with the “tons” of SPAM that I get from 3 of my oldest email addresses.  These email addresses probably show up on all of the spammers marketing lists that are sold everyday.  Although you have to “train” Thunderbird as to what SPAM you want removed, it does a great job of keeping my inboxes clean.

Give Thunderbird a try by downloading it here.  There are versions for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers.

Emerge Desktop

If you are looking for a way to customize the “look and feel” of your Windows Desktop, try downloading and installing the Emerge Desktop.  It supports Windows versions from Windows 2000 to Windows 7, (in both 32 and 64bit versions).

Emerge Desktop is a replacement for the Windows explorer window manager.  It provides a system tray, a taskbar, and virtual desktops.  It replaces the start button with  a desktop right-click menu for accessing all your programs.  Emerge Desktop features can be enabled or disabled optionally for complete customization.

It certainly gives the traditional Windows desktop a look that is more consistent with a “linux-like” look and feel.  Give it a try and see what you think.

More Malware Scams

I saw a new TV ad today for a website called maxmyspeed.com.  This is yet another website giving away a “free” antivirus/antispyware scan sponsored by CyberDefender.  Don’t fall for these scams!  I absolutely hate these websites that try to trick unsuspecting customers into downloading their software and and then try to extort money from them to remove the imaginary viruses and malware.

If you are still unsure about CyberDefender, (the software that you have to download and install), then just Google “Cyberdefender scams” and see what happens.  Seems like CyberDefenders’ new tactic is to go after anyone that writes a bad review.

Stay away from these guys at all costs.  Make sure that your system is protected with valid antivirus/antispyware software.  We highly recommend using Vipre, (see the banner ad below), a lean and mean AV solution for your PC.

Updating your Software

Whether you are using Windows, Mac, Linux, or Unix based operating systems, you must keep them current with the latest updates.  Security holes, (re: vunerabilities), are in every operating system.  For Windows users, you must not only keep up with the latest OS updates, but you must also keep updated antivirus and antimalware software.

As though keeping the OS and antivirus software updated is not enough, you must also keep all your other software updated and patched.  Using any software that is out of date, just gives the “bad guys” one more place to enter your system.  The list of software that needs updating just keeps growing.  From browsers, (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, or Safari), to media players, (Windows Media Player, VLC,), to chat clients, to office software, (MS-Office, OpenOffice).

One of the advantages of most distributions of Linux is that there is a central updating system for all software, operating system and all other software.  This makes is a lot easier to keep your system secure.

Note:  As I’m writing  this post, WordPress is prompting me to install an update!

Antivirus Scams

Perhaps you’ve seen the commercials on TV for “MyCleanPC.com”, “Double My Speed”, or a similar product, with glowing “testimonials” about how it restored their PC to better than original state.  Don’t believe any of the claims for one second.  Almost all these “free trial” products use a known malware program called “CyberDefender“.  These scam artists have all kinds of variations, a product named AntiVirus 2010, is just one of the newest.

If you get “infected” with any of these rouge programs, try downloading , VIPRE (a legit company).  I use Vipre on all my Windows PC’s and laptops, and have been virus and malware free for over 3 years now.  Vipre will even let you try the fully functioning version for 30 days, which is plenty of time for you to get your system clean.  Vipre is a “lean and mean” antivirus product, unlike Norton, Trend Micro, or McAfee products which really slow your computer down.  I also like the fact that I can purchase an unlimited Home site license for only $50 a year.  That’s perfect for my situation, as we have 4 computers running Windows 7.

VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware

Windows 7 “Upgrades”

Over the last few months, I have been transitioning our production computers over to various Windows 7 configurations.  Currently we have two desktop production computers, both running 64 bit versions of Windows 7.  One is running Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit and the other is running Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.  Both of these systems had Windows XP on them, but with the security issues of running an “old” OS, we decided to upgrade everything running Windows XP.  I “upgraded” both desktop computers to 4GB of RAM, prior to doing a clean install of Windows 7.

In addition to the two desktop production computers, we also have two Windows 7 laptops, one running Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit and the other laptop running the 32bit version.  Both run Windows 7 with 2GB of RAM on board very smoothly, and I think better than they did on Windows XP.  All of the computers were “upgraded” doing a clean install.

I upgraded our Acer netbook from Windows XP Home to Easy Peasy today, so that we don’t have to worry about Windows XP security issues on it anymore.