The Future of Innovation Requires Ending Copyright Tyranny Now

If you dont know about the current state of copyright or think there is nothing wrong with it, check out this article on Cnet: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31322_3-20002541-256.html?tag=newsFeaturedBlogArea.0

The writer makes a great point about how America, you know, The Land of the Free, is quietly and every so subtly become a copyright police state, where Hollywood's movie studios and the record industry corporations are using Congress to demand that the police (yes, your *local* police), the FBI, and the Border Patrol stop, search and seize iPods and any other type of portable media player including iPhones and Blackberrys.

Forget terrorists, murderers, rapists, bank robbers and illegal immigrants, the RIAA and MPAA are even now demanding that every level of law enforcement stop what they are doing and make sure that every portable music or video player contains only legally purchased music or videos.
If the owner cannot produce proof of purchase at the time of search, the player must be seized and destroyed on the spot, lest the police themselves become corrupted.

The problem with having music or video on a portable player, according to the RIAA and MPAA, is that no music or video that exists on a portable player is legal, since the terms of the End User License Agreement clearly state that the music or video is not legally allowed to be transferred to any portable player.

Like the article says, this leads to a copyright police state. In America.

Govt spying on online purchases

Unveiled recently at a wiretapping and eavesdroppers conference, a small Arizona company is selling a box* you can plug into a network and use to secretly spy on what people are saying and doing (i.e. shopping) on what are supposedly "secure" websites, such as Gmail, Ebay, Amazon, etc.

This companies wiretap box requires the cooperation of the same companies who tell your browser what websites are safe to go to.
This box, with the (voluntary, coerced, blackmailed, or bribed) cooperation of the Certifying Authority (CA) allows government agencies, law enforcement or anyone with enough money to use this box to intercept your email, read it and then let go on to its destination.
Also, it can be used to spy on your shopping habits (because its been proven that most bureaucrats are bored and curious voyeurs).

So just be aware that you may be being spied upon by people you would rather not know what your email says or what you are buying.

And no, there's nothing you can do about it.

Here the link to a couple of articles on the topic, here, and here.

*I say "box," but it is actually a router; "box" is easier to understand for the non-technical audience.

Should you care about 4G?

4G is the new next-generation of cell phone network speeds.
Technically, 4G means "4th Generation network." Yes, the ads promise it to be faster, better, etc.,etc.; but should you care?

The short answer is "not really."

The long answer is if you are an average user with a non-smart phone, this wont matter to you.
If you have a smart (Windows, Android, or i) phone, the speed difference wont be tremendous, and probably not existent anywhere 3G doesnt reach now.

You're better off using Wi-fi, wherever its available. In fact, most major networks (except Verizon) are expanding their wi-fi networks to handle the expected increase in data traffic.

PDF overtakes Word as virus spreader

As it happens, Adobe's Acrobat PDF(Portable Document Format) program has overtaken Microsoft Word as the program most attacked by viruses.

This is because Microsoft has been trying very hard to fix any and all of the loopholes in Word and Office that allow viruses to attack them, while Adobe has not.

This has become a problem because more computers have some version of Adobe Acrobat on them than have Word, and most installed versions of Acrobat are old and unpatched; this allows loopholes in the program to be exploited by the bad guys.

See the article here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/09/adobe_reader_attacks/

If you would like an alternative to Acrobat, try the free Foxit PDF Reader: http://download.cnet.com/Foxit-Reader/3000-10743_4-10313206.html

MagicJack's agreement allow spying on your phone calls

If you have the MagicJack USB phone service you may want to know that by using it you are allowing the MagicJack company to listen in on your phone calls and sell any information obtained to advertisers who will then pay MagicJack.

I'm not saying that you should not use the service; just be aware that anything you say while on the phone will be used to target advertising at you, and that confidential information between you and the person to whom you are speaking may be sold to interested third parties such as your employer or your health insurer.

Here is the link to the article: http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/04/14/magicjacks-eula-says.html

Malware causes Windows crash during Auto Update

ZDNet has a story about a piece of of malware(virus, spyware, etc.) which infects Windows below the operating level, which caused some PC's to stop working during or right after Automatic Updates in February.

This type of malware is called a 'rootkit', because it is a 'kit' of programs that infects Windows at the 'root' of the software.
If you looked at the listing of all of your files and folders, you would notice that all of the folders appear to start downward from the Desktop and branch out from there; kind of like an upside down tree. (This is why the listing is called a "folder tree.")

The very top is called the "root," like the root of a tree; If you have access to the root of any computer, you can do anything you want, even reprogram the whole computer.

Next Explorer wont run on XP

Microsoft's newest version of Internet Explorer wont run on Windows XP, according to the general manager of Microsoft's Internet Explorer group.

He said at a recent conference that a "modern browser" needed a "modern operating system" to run.

Also, of note, because of security concerns surrounding Internet Explorer 6, some large and popular websites have announced that they will no longer be allowing computers who are using IE 6 to access their websites.

This may not seem fair, but it is in the best interests of all concerned. Anyone who is still using Internet Explorer 6 really should be using IE 7 or 8.
The newer versions will help in preventing virus attacks for you and help these websites from being attacked; which is also good for you.

New hard drives may hurt XP performance

Ars Technica has a good article on why Windows XP may be slower when using brand new hard drives: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/03/why-new-hard-disks-might-not-be-much-fun-for-xp-users.ars

It boils down to bigger hard drives need more error correction space to keep your data intact; and so, as hard drives get bigger, it becomes harder to maintain the integrity of your data.
The solution is to change the size of the storage areas on the hard drive so that it is easier to maintain the integrity of the data.
Because Windows XP was created before this was an issue XP has to perform more actions to read and write data of off these newer hard drives, which makes everything slow down.

This is another good reason to move on to Windows 7 as soon as possible.

First post of the New Year

Here it is, the first post of the New Year.

Last year, I resolved to post more often and I almost made it. Three quarters of the year, I posted at least once a week (on average).

Lets see if I can do better this year.

So, until I have something to write about, have some free stuff. This is Maximum PC magazines's Best Free Applications of 2009.

See you next time.

Online reviews

If you've ever searched for anything online, you have no doubt read online reviews for it. Whether it is a piece of clothing, an electronic item or a store or professional service, there are reviews for it.

As an aware consumer, you need to be skeptical of all user reviews because of the anonymous nature of the Internet and the competitive nature of some businesses (like computer repair).

If there are 'tons' of negative reviews for a business and few positive reviews, check to see if the negative reviews were posted within a day or two of each other. If there were really that many unhappy customers, the reviews would be spread out and what the people said would be different from review to review (fake reviews tend to say the same thing over and over again).

Also, check the website of the person or company involve to see if the complaints mention thing that the company actually does; for instance, if the website says they never give estimates, but all the reviews claim that the final charge was "over the estimate", its probably a fake review posted by a competitor.

Also, check other review sites, and see if the review are more even somewhere else.

There, now you are a more informed and knowledgeable consumer.

Some things to know about Windows 7

Hardware Minimums:
Yes, you need to know what hardware you machine has, in order to know whether you can put Win 7 on it. These requirements are for the lowest amount of acceptable operation.
These requirements are (as I have tested them):

• A CPU of 1.5 Ghz or better. You find this out by right-clicking on My Computer, going the list and clicking on Properties. This will also tell you how much RAM you have.
• 1 GB of RAM. There doesnt seem to be appreciable lag in opening programs with this amount of RAM installed. At least half of you have this amount already; the rest will need to spend the $40 to meet this requirement.
• A 20 GB hard drive or larger. Since even the cheapest computer these days comes with at least 40 GB or more, you should be fine without even looking.
• A video card that is DirectX 9.0 hardware compliant. If you have a installed a video card at any time in the last three years, you are OK. Dont know if you have a video card? Look at the back of your tower; if the blue cable is coming from near the bottom, you do. If the cable is coming from the top(or top of the middle area), you dont. But thats OK, video cards are very inexpensive (unless you intend to play video games or start editing movies).
• A DVD drive. Also very cheap.
  

There you have it; the least you need to run Windows 7 on your existing computer.

Next time, can you just put Windows 7 in the computer and say "Go!"?

Windows 7

Windows 7 comes out today; I will be buying it (if not today, then soon).

Will you, my vast reading audience, also be buying Windows 7? Will you buy the boxed software and keep your current hardware, or will you buy an entirely new computer?

If you are wondering whether you should or not, the answer is Yes, if your budget allows.

I have said previously that Windows 7 is a worthwhile product based on other peoples reviews and a limited amount of my own testing. I think that it deserves the chance to prove to you that it is safer than XP, as easy to use as XP(after the somewhat short learning curve), and at least as fast as XP.

And no, I dont work for Microsoft, nor have I been compensated for saying nice things about Windows.

I Know I've Said This Before, But...

If you search Craigslist for computer help, you will find dozens of ads for people only too willing to help out with your troubles, myself included.
What concerns me is when I see an ad that says "Hi, I am an experienced computer person, but I dont want to tell you who I am, give you any sense I really might know what I am doing or give you any actual contact information." The ads dont actually say that, of course; but it is the sense one gets from reading them.
It is quite possible that I get this sense only because they are competing with me for business, but I dont think so. I am quite happy to share the large customer base around here, but... I would prefer that people selling a service to people who may not know any better at least provide a phone number, if not an email address and a website address, instead of using Craigslists anonymous email system.
How does anyone know that this anonymous person on Craigslist is who they claim to be if the only contact is through an anonymous email?

I know, I am just being paranoid, but it still bugs me. Am I right to be this concerned, or not?

Device driver not installing?

If you are installing a device driver for a new piece of hardware, or more often, installing the same driver as part of a re-installation process, you may find that the installer will run but the driver wont install.
There are many reasons for this, but, more importantly, the question is 'if the installer program wont install the driver, how do I get the driver put in?'
The answer is to go to Device Manager, find the piece of hardware you are installing, right-click on it and click on 'Update Driver'. Then you follow the prompts, browse for your device driver, and click OK.

This should allow the driver to be installed.

Cats are bad for laptops

Especially when they urinate on the keyboard when no-one is looking.

If you have a laptop, and are not sure of your kitty's temperament, always close the screen on your laptop when you walk away from or are not using it.

If you notice any sort of liquid on your laptop, and it is running, turn it off. DO NOT move your laptop or attempt to drain off the liquid; there are enough cracks and seams on the face of a laptop that any movement will allow the liquid the run inside and cause additional damage.

Instead, take a paper towel or anything handy that is absorbent and pat up the liquid. Once you have patted up all the liquid you can see, remove the battery while keeping the laptop as level as possible.

If the liquid appears clear and is thought to be water, let the laptop sit open so the water can evaporate.

If the liquid appears colored, pat up all the liquid you can, then get a hand towel or several paper towels and lay them over the wet area and gently close the lid.

What we want to happen is that the weight of the lid will force the towel(s) close enough to any remaining liquid so that over the course of several hours or overnight the towel(s) will soak up any remaining liquid.

After letting the laptop sit, replace the battery and attempt to start Windows. If Windows does not start normally, shut down the laptop, remove the battery and call a repair person.

And pray that your backups are up to date. You have been making backups of everything you can't lose, havent you?

Is this the year of Microsoft's success?

I think the answer is Yes.

When you consider that the 3 major products that Microsoft is releasing this year, Windows 7, Bing! search, and Security Essentials(code-named 'Morro'), have all gotten positive reviews by some of the biggest critics of Microsoft, it looks Microsoft has achieved something truly memorable for the company and its products.

Windows 7 has become more than 'just Vista Service Pack 2'; Microsoft has improved all of the things that worked about Vista to make them easier to use, fixed or otherwise adjusted all of the things that Vista's critics felt were unusable.
The smallest amount of computer hardware needed to run Windows 7, and have it not feel like swimming through molasses, is equivalent to what Windows XP was running on when Vista was released (2 Ghz CPU, 1GB of RAM, and video hardware capable of running Direct X 9).
This is like running tomorrows high-needs programs on a three year old computer and never noticing the difference in speed.

Bing! search is now what Google was like to begin with but with all of the knowledge of what people want and how they look for it. Bing! isnt quite as good as Google, yet, but there are some areas where the supplemental information that Bing! provides alongside the search results make it as or more useful than the same search on Google.
Search engine reviewers say that if Microsoft focuses on making Bing! searches better, rather than more marketable or whatever Microsoft usually does that turns a bright idea into garbage, that in 2 years Bing! will be a serious competitor to Google.
Don't hold your breath on that, though; this is Microsoft we're talking about here. They somehow always find some way to turn a diamond into glass.

Microsoft's Security Essentials software, which is their latest attempt at serious and effective protection software, is a suite of programs that includes anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware.
It appears that the third time really is a charm for Microsoft's attempts at security software; reviewers who have tried out the test, or 'beta', release have had positive things to say about it.

Which is unusual for an industry which has grown accustomed to warning people about avoiding certain Microsoft programs.

There you have it; the very real possibility of Microsoft having a year of successes for the first time since Windows 95, perhaps for the first time in the company's history.

Craigslist competitors

Like a lot of computer repair guys, I advertise on Craigslist. Craigslist is a goood way to get a listing in front of the public, and I get a fair amount of work from my ads on Craigslist.

What frustrates me the most are people who say that a computer problem can be fixed in minutes, and for tiny amounts of money (free to 20/hr.)
I know I shouldnt, but I worry about the quality of service that these people, some of whom admit that computer repair is 'just a hobby', are providing their customers.
People trust advertisers on Craigslist more than they should, so a 'computer repair guy' who doesnt give a name, phone number or website could be looking for homes to rob. Probably not, but any reputable serviceperson, whether janitor, handyman, plumber, landscaper etc. provides information about themselves so that potential customers can see that they are "real".

Lest someone think that I am merely complaining because of being undercut, I am not. Anybody has the ability to advertise on Craigslist and it is up to me to make my ad more compelling than the next persons ad.

Even so, I wonder about some of these ads I see. What with the poor grammar, poor spelling and no contact information its a good thing these people arent trying to to make a living.

As far as the obvious competitors go, more power to them; every de-virused computer make the Internet safer for all of us.

New Places To Find Me

Well, I've gone and done it. I have just now registered on Yelp, signed up for Twitter and now have a Facebook page.

I guess I've truly joined the 21st Century now.

You can expect to see new posts there as often as there are new posts here...

Amd vs. Intel

AMD has long been the second-best CPU maker in the computer industry, behind Intel (maker of Pentium CPU's). A few years ago, when AMD came out with its Athlon line of CPU's, they took first place in the race to be best chipmaker.
After the release of the Athlon CPU's, Intel came out with several less than outstanding chips, allowing AMD to rest on its laurels as fastest chipmaker.
But, while AMD was resting on its laurels, Intel came out with a plan to release newer, better and faster chips every year and a half, while shrinking the size of the CPU and adding more stuff to them.
And so Intel has done exactly what they said they would, much to AMD's chagrin. In order to catch up, AMD has done several things, some very risky, which has led to new and underperforming CPU releases.

But now, it appears that AMD may finally have caught up to Intel with their new Phenom II CPU.

Revies are underway; if you are a gamer, you may want to check this chip out for your next system.

More Windows 7

Once i fixed my boot problems, the actual installation of Windows went fairly smoothly, wiuth the exception of one error message saying that my blank hard drive was not bootable. Once I got that issue sorted out, the install went quickly.

There is not alot of movement on screen to make it look like something is happening; you sort of take it on faith that Windows is doing its thing.
There are three steps Windows goes through in its installation routine:
Gathering information, Installing, and Finishing Up.

The installation is said to take about a half an hour. I didnt time mine so I cant say whether that is true. The installation did take a lot less time than Windows XP, and I was able to walk away without fear that something horrible would happen if I did not babysit it.

Once installed, Windows asks for the serial number ("Product Key") asks asks a few general setup questions, including 'do you want to activate the first time you are online?'

When the desktop comes up, which seems quite quick compared to Vista and XP, the default resolution (with a video card installed but no drivers) is a reasonable 1024 x 768. With drivers installed, the resolution increases to the native resolution of the monitor; in my case i have a 15 inch monitor with a 1200dpi resolution.

Installing Windows 7

I've just installed Windows 7 on an old computer to see if it could be done.

The installation is large enough that it requires a DVD, and a DVD drive. The only problem with that is that older computer generally cant boot from a DVD.

Windows 7 was designed to be installed on top of (or beside) an existing operating system, one that has DVD drivers already loaded.

To get around this limitation, I found it was possible to use a Vista Repair Disk that Microsoft provides. It has the bootloader and DVD drivers necessary to load Windows from the DVD.

My Windows 7 installation is running on an AMD Athlon 1.1 Ghz cpu, with 1GB of RAM and a Radeon 9550 video card.

People Search Engines

There are new search engines on the Web now that will attempt to find anyone based on the information you have already given out in various locations.
If you have a Facebook page, a Twitter account or other type of publicly available account where you list things you wouldnt normally want strangers seeing, be careful to adjust your privacy settings.

One such search site, Spokeo, boasts that it will "uncover personal photos, videos and secrets" that are "juicy" and "mouth-watering." If you dont want to be the next person who inadvertently ends up on the evening news, be careful what you put online.

Trojan Troubles: The Results

My customer had an ultra-portable laptop (that I had initially confused with a netbook) that he thought had trojan horse programs on it, and he wanted them removed and the laptop fixed.

He did have trojans; and viruses and spyware. Multiples. One of them had lodged inside the 'winlogon' service that allows you in to the desktop, and I couldnt remove it.

Usually this calls for formatting the hard drive and re-installing Windows. Not an exceptionally hard thing to do. Except in this case. No version of Windows that I installed would work properly; none of my three versions would install properly, nor his.
Upon further investigation, it turns out that Dell had (has?) some kind of mechanism that prevents people from re-installing Windows on that model of laptop without the specific Recovery Disk that came with the computer(or Recovery Partition).

Afterwards, I returned the laptop to the customer, letting him know what I had done, what I had found out and what his options might be.

Trojan Troubles

A customer has just called wanting me to get rid of a pesky trojan horse for him.
For this I usually boot into Safe Mode and use MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware program.

Results later.

Troubleshooting 101

The other day, I had a customer ask to me to fix his sound. This called for Troubleshooting 101; figure out and solve the problem.

First, is there a defined problem? Yes; "the sound doesnt work."

Second, is the problem hardware, software or both? In this case, both.

Third, check the software:
Is the volume muted? Yes/No
Is the volume turned all the down, or otherwise turned off? Yes/No

Then check the hardware:
Are the speakers on? Yes/No
If no, are the speakers plugged in to power?
Are the speakers plugged into the computer? The correct plug?

Finally, check all other connections. Follow all cords to make sure everything is plugged in to its proper place, including sub-woofers and surround-sound.

If none of this works, then it is time to check for device driver errors. But that is Troubleshooting 102.

As it turned out, my customer had unplugged his sub-woofers power cord, and that had unplugged his speakers. So, I plugged the sub-woofer in and all was well.

Why Updating Windows Is Important

You might think that with all of today's security measures for your computer, that massive virus outbreaks are a thing of the past, but you would be wrong.

Right now, there is a worm called Conficker (also called Downadup) that is exploiting missing Windows patches. What Conficker does is allow other infected computers to attack yours, which would allow your computer to be taken over in turn and used to attack yet more computers.

Conficker has also been seen to allow downloads of fake antivirus programs that attempt to scare you into buying the fake program, when then gives your credit card number to criminals.

Windows Updates are an important part of keeping your computer healthy. I know that sometimes the update notifier can be annoying and a nag, but it really is important that you let your computer be updated.

If you are in the middle of an important project, let it go until you are done; but then find a time when your computer is not busy and install the updates.

Beware the fake stimulus

Email scams are nothing new; for example, look at the 'Nigerian Prince' (aka 419) emails.

But with the down economy, email scammers have a new tack, the 'fake stimulus' email. Because so many people are in trouble, either with their mortgage or with jobs and money in general, people are willing to be more gullible than ever if it means that they have a chance a getting some of the government stimulus money.
Emails are going out that look and sound official, as if some heretofore unknown government agency was telling people how to apply for government assistance. These emails do not come from a .gov address, nor do they have any official seals on them(even though a govt. seal is easy to fake).
People are just very willing right now to take a strangers word that this stranger knows how to get government stimulus money, that they are willing to share it with you, and it will only cost you a small administrative fee.

You should know by now that any email that says they know a secret way to get money from the government is fake, and a scam.
And, in addition, any email that asks for money is crooked and will only get you in trouble. Not with the government, but with your wallet.

So dont believe it. There is no stimulus money being given out to individual citizens. Even if there was, the government would not send you an anonymous email telling you so.

Why doesnt my Wi-fi work

If you live in an old house, that is, really old, your walls are probably made of a combination of hardwood sticks and a cement-like mortar; this is called 'lathe and plaster'.

Tests on wi-fi signal strengths have shown that lathe and plaster walls are so dense that they reflect the radio signals that make up your wi-fi signal. The next worse thing to have in your walls between you and your router are metal ductwork. The metal of the ductwork also reflects the radio signals.

The solution is one of two things: buy a stronger router(or a booster for your existing one), or move the router closer to where you want to work.

If you go the new router route, you will want to buy an "N" router(that means 802.11n, Draft 2.0); these are the newest and strongest routers, designed to bounce the signal around obstacles.

Printing (or not) from Mac's to PC's

Yesterday I had a customer whose daughter had an older iMac who wanted to print over the network to a printer hooked to a PC.

The PC was an older Dell and the printer was an older Dell All-In-One. Dell printers are made by Lexmark, the printer software is made by Lexmark, but the printer drivers are written by Dell.
(Drivers are small pieces of software that tell a piece of hardware how to operate; in this case how to print a document.)

It turns out that the Dell AIO did not have Macintosh drivers. The Mac could see the PC (who was acting as a print server), could send the print job to the PC, the printer would say "printing" and yet nothing happened.

The moral of the story: make sure your PC's printer has Mac drivers available.

More on the fake Anti-virus front

I've talked before about fake anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. Normally you can write down the name of the suspicious program and Google it or go to respected review sites for answers.

Now, maybe not.

The newest fake anti-virus, Antivirus-1 or AntiVirus2010, will change the listing of known good websites contained in your browser(this is called the hosts file), and if you try to go to a well-known website like PC magazine, ZD Net, etc. the fake antivirus will re-direct your browser to a fake site controlled by the virus' author, where it will show glowing, wonderful reviews about the fake anti-virus program.

The best way to avoid this is to have a good anti-virus program running and updated. Also, it is good to be suspicious of any program you dont remember installing.

New Security Threats

It seems like there are always more threats to look out for. Today, some new ones you might not have heard of.

Variations on 'phishing': Voicemail and Twitter.
Voicemail Phishing ("vishing"): A voicemail call (sometimes called a 'robo-call') from your bank or a company you've recently done business with telling you that a large transaction, usually something you havent done, has been held up.
The call includes a tol free number tha tyou are asked to call right away to fix the problem. Once you do, a voice menu prompts you to key in your credit card number, as well as the expiration date and 3-digit security code on the back. After which, the caller is usually hung up on, or placed on terminal hold.

Twitter Phishing ("twishing"): A fake tweet (blog posts on Twitter are called 'tweets') is sent to your account with a link that supposedly sends you somewhere harmless, such as youtube or Flickr, but really sends you to a fake login page where you are asked to give up all of your info.

Power Leeches

PC World had an article recently about electronic gadget and how much power they consume even when turned off, or even when just the charger is plugged in but not charging anything.

It appears that the answer to "should I turn my computer off at night?" is "only if you want to save money on your power bill." The tower itself consumes about $7 dollars a month if you leave it on 24/7. Your entire computer setup (tower, monitor, speakers, etc) can cost you as much as $60 month; even in 'power-save' mode.

Un-dunking your cell phone

If you've ever dunked, washed, or otherwise immersed your phone in water, you feel like you've lost everything. But what if you could undo the dunking?

Take your freshly dunked phone, get a cooking pot or deep bowl, fill it full of uncooked rice. Submerge the phone in the rice and leave it there for a few hours or overnight.
Afterward, it should work as normal.

It needs to be noted, however, that this is not guaranteed to work; but it should.

And now, a couple of things that you should definitely not do with a wet phone:

• Use a hair dryer to dry it off. The heat can damage components.
• Put it in the microwave. The metal will spark and internal components can short out, so even if they were to dry, they would be fried.
• Leaving it out to air dry. This would work with a CRT monitor, but not with a phone; the water would have no where to go, and could continue damaging internal components.

Also, this is intended to work with water or water-based liquids (like coffee), not with syrup based liquids like soda (the water leaves, leaving the sticky syrup behind).

Blue Screen Errors

Sometimes fixing similar Blue Screen of Death(BSoD) error messages isnt as easy as it seems.

When you have an IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error, the first thing you do is swap out the RAM; but when you add DRIVER_IRQL to the error message, it becomes much harder.
You might think, as I did, swap out the RAM first. That doesnt work. You might also think that there is a driver issue, after all, the error message says 'driver' in it.
Ok, but which driver? In my case, it was a video problem. Changing the video driver didnt help.

Now, you might be thinking, Google for the answer. I did; at least 4 different answers, including Microsoft's. All of them suggested something besides the RAM and the video drivers; so I tried them all (Microsoft's answer was to change the video drivers).

After everything was tried, I used System Restore and went back further than the time the problem had occurred. I got the rid of the video problem, but the Blue Screen remained.

If you know a definitive answer, I'd love to hear it.

A Bad Valentine

There is an email currently making the rounds that has a Valentines Day-themed romantic message. The email has only one or two lines of text and a link to a web page.

Surely, I dont need to remind you NOT to click on any links in mysterious or spam emails, do I?

But, if you do need the reminder, and you DID click the link, it takes you to a web-page full of cute little hearts and a message that says "Guess which one is for you?" If you click anywhere on or near the heart pictures, you will be asked to run a program. This program is a virus, and it will 'zombify' your computer(allow someone from the Internet to take remote control).

The virus doesnt happen automatically; the email contains no virus, visiting the website will not automatically virus your computer(as can sometimes happen), YOU must download and run the virus. You will even be asked 'are you sure?' If you are using the Firefox browser, you will be asked twice.

So why the concern? Because in the month the email has been circulating, the amount of infected computers has been steadily rising.

So dont click the link! If you do, dont click on the webpage! If you do, dont run the program!

If, after all of this, you do run the program, save up some money for the sooner-rather-than-later repair you will need.

What you might not know about the Digital Transition

With all of this talk about the transition to digital over-the-air broadcasting, some things have gotten lost. There is some confusion about what needs to be replaced, or added, or whatnot.

First, you do not need to replace your TV; your TV will work just as well as it ever has, but unless it can receive the new TV signal you wont be able to watch any programs.
With current over the air broadcasts, which are called analog (because they're simple radio waves), if you receive a weak signal it shows up as static, and you can try to tune in a better signal.

With digital broadcast signals, there is no 'weak' signal, it is either strong and bright or not there at all. If you live in a place where your current TV signal is weak, you will receive no signal at all after the changeover.

Consumer Reports suggests that if you receive the error message from a digital tuner(the add-on box you will need to receive the new TV signal) that says "weak signal" that you get a bigger antenna, move your current antenna near to a window, or to a higher point in your house, such as an attic, or buy a signal booster (which you can attach to the TV).

If you live in a Comcast service area, they are required to sell over the air channels at low cost (sometimes as low $11/mo); however, they are not required to tell customers that this service is available; you will have to ask for it.

Credit Card Fraud

A recent Wired magazine article made me think about credit cards and the possibility of theft and abuse.
Your credit (or debit/"check guarantee") card is an amazing thing; it allows you to buy things without using money. However, most people look at their credit cards as if they were pieces of plastic instead of being as good as cash.
It is possible these days for a waiter/waitress to pass your card through a miniature card reader, called a "skimmer," before they pass it through the point of sale machine. Skimming can happen anywhere; anyone you hand your card to can pass it through a reader in only a second or two.

The best way to avoid having your card "skimmed" is to not hand it to anyone, or, at the very least, watch the person you hand it to until they hand it back.
While is not possible everywhere, you should do it whenever possible.

The reason you should treat your credit/debit card as if it were cash is because criminals can make an exact copy of your card, and max it out, in less than a day.

It is always good policy to closely watch your statements when they come, because most credit card companies will forgive charges made with a stolen card IF you report them as soon as they are noticed.
Debit cards, however, do not have this same protection. Debit cards are hooked up to your bank account and if they are stolen, your bank account can be emptied in hours. This is why you should treat your cards, especially debit cards, as if they were cash.

Netbooks and Error Messages

Recently, a customer had a netbook that would not boot up; when he tried to re-install from restore disks, his netbook gave him a series of unusual error messages.

Because it looked like a problem with the restore disc, I tried several other discs that I knew were good, but I got the same results. After some more testing, I got a Blue Screen (of Death) whose error message, IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, I knew to be indicative of bad RAM. So, I replaced the RAM in the socket on the bottom of the netbook.

No change. Same error messages. I searched for a resolution on Google (the researchers friend) and all the results said 'RAM issue'. But I had changed the RAM. So what was going on?

As it turns out, most netbook computers have a secondary RAM socket underneath the keyboard.

I pried up the bezel above the keyboard where the power switch usually is, lifted up the keyboard, and opened up this secondary RAM socket and replaced that RAM with the RAM originally taken from the primary socket.

Problem solved. (Once I placed the cover back on the socket.) No more error messages!

Except for the one preventing Windows from booting. Which was taken care of in short order.

On Modems and Routers

Sometimes technology just doesnt work.

Most people in large cities and towns have some form of connection to the Internet. Quite a few of these have "broadband", which is a generic term for a fast connection to the Internet; accomplished by a DSL or cable modem.
Alot of people also have more than one computer, thus needing a way to connect all of them to the Internet easily; hence, the router.

Normally, once hooked up, the router and modem work just fine. But, when they dont, the usual fix is to unplug one or both of them and wait.

As it happens, if you have a non-standard or older modem, you have to wait longer. As was the case last night, a lot longer.

Then you plug the modem in first, and wait. A few minutes (or an hour) later, you plug in the router. A few minutes after that, you turn on the computer(s) that you had turned off previously when you unplugged everything else.
Then you wait a few more minutes for everything to load and settle down and decide whether it wants to work properly.

Then you either celebrate your good fortune, or you curse and reach for the phone to call a guy to come out and do the same thing.

Network cables

You've heard the term "network cable" or "ethernet cable" before, but do you know what they are?
First off, the terms "Ethernet cable" and "network cable" are interchangeable. So if someone says to you "just go to the store and get an Ethernet cable" and everything is labeled "network cable", you'll know it is the same thing.

Secondly, there are two types and three varieties of Ethernet cables: Patch(also called "Internet") cables and crossover cables. Patch/Internet cables connect your computer to the high-speed modem; crossover cables connect one computer to another. These two type are NOT interchangeable.

With patch/Internet cables the three varieties are Category 5 (usually labeled as "cat5"), Cat 5e and Cat6. These labels refer to the type of wiring inside the cable itself.

Normally, you want Cat5e patch ("Internet") cable. If you need higher speed cable, look for Cat6 "Gigabit" cable.

Finally, a word about speed. Ethernet cables are rated for three levels of speed:
The oldest and slowest is 10Base-T, this isnt usually sold any more.
The next-newest is 10/100, which you can still buy.
The newest and fastest is Gigabit Ethernet, or 10/1000. Gigabit Ethernet is new enough that budget computers and pre-built computers more than 3 years old usually dont have it built in.

What is Windows 7?

Unless you are a computer geek, you probably have not heard about the newest version of Windows that is in development. This newest version is called Windows 7 (because it is the seventh actual version of Windows).

Since Vista has, relatively, just come out, a person might be excused for thinking 'Gee, isnt this new version coming out awfully quickly?' to which the answer is "no, not really."

Coming out relatively soon after Vista, you should know that Apple routinely puts out new versions of it OS 10 software for the Macintosh every 12 to 18 months; so the unusual part is that Microsoft waits 3 to 5 years between releases, and then expects everyone (businesses and households alike) to buy something entirely new.

Windows 7 looks alot like Vista, and, according to early tests, works alot like Vista but without the problems that plagued Vista when it first came out.

Does this new version of Windows matter? Do you need it, Will you need it?
Answers: Sort of, No and Maybe.
Windows 7 only matters in that it advances technology without forcing a hardware upgrade cycle like Vista did.
Needing it? If XP works for you now, and all you do is email, web surfing and Youtube, then you dont need it now(now meaning the beginning of next year, when it is scheduled for release).
Will you need it in the future? Yes, almost certainly. In the future when all things are possible, you will need the features Windows is promising. They will help you manage your photos, videos, all of the stuff you will be creating and storing.

In the somewhat more realistic future, Windows 7 will look prettier, be easier to manage and help you find all of your stuff faster... if Microsoft can do the one thing they've always promised but never done-

Deliver on their promises.

What Security Programs Should I Get?

It seems like every client I have asks this question. The answer depends on a couples of things:
What kind of Internet connection you have, and how often are you on the Internet/what do you do when you get there?

If you you have Dial-up, then any antivirus program you come across (except Windows Defender) will be enough security; I'd recommend AVG Free(http://free.avg.com).
If you have DSL or a Cable connection you need two types of programs all the time, and occasionally a third one for a couple of hours once a week(or once a month if you hardly use the Internet). The two types of programs you need all the time are antivirus and firewall. The third type is anti-spyware. If you arent using a firewall, then you will need the anti-spyware all the time.

So, which security program is the best? Does it have to be separate programs?

The answer to the second question is 'somtimes' and 'depends on the program you are using'.
If you are using a 'suite' (which is a combination of separate programs which are sold bundled together, like Microsoft Office) then no, all the security programs are installed and run as one program. If you are not using a 'suite', then yes, it has to be separate programs.

Which security program is the best? Currently, the 2 best are Norton 2009, which is available in standalone antivirus and as an Internet Security Suite, and Eset Nod32 antivirus; which is also available as standalone and suite. What is the difference between the two? Only price; Norton is the more expensive and Nod32 is only available from the Internet.

What would I recommend? Norton.

For anti-spyware, I'd recommend Webroot's Spy Sweeper.

Its a New Year

And I'm already falling down on my resolution to blog more this year.

So, let's get started.

The two biggest threats to your computer in 2009 I believe will be "WinAntivirus 2008/2009" and "Spyware Guard".
WinAntivirus has a shield icon that has the four Windows colors on it and pops up onto your desktop as soon as you turn on Windows. It will then look like it is scanning your hard drive and it will tell you that you have some number of dozens of infections and the only way to get rid of them is to buy WinAntivirus. If you do this, the makers of the virus will then charge your credit card account to its maximum limit.

WinAntivirus can be gotten rid of using anti-malware programs, but the best option is to have an effective anti-virus program already installed (and updated!).

Spyware Guard is relatively new, and harder to get rid of. It has a shield icon that is silver with a diagonal stripe. It does not pop up as you load the desktop; it waits until the user starts doing something and then pops up and says 'you are not protected; do you want to scan now?'. It will then scan and tell you to buy the program online, just like WinAntivirus, with the same end result.

I have found that Norton 2009 is the only program that successfully disninfects Spyware Guard from an infected computer.

What good is support that doesnt support?

Everyone knows about telephone support. You call a number and a person answers; you tell them your problem and they read a script that tells you the steps you must take to produce a solution.

But what happens when even that support stops working?

A fellow computer repair guy near me has had just such a problem. He was building a web site with Microsoft's new Office "Live" web creation tools when he encountered a "bug" (In software terms, a "bug" is an undocumented and usually unwelcome feature built, or left, in the software by the manufacturer.)
The problem was that when he added a link to a traffic analysis website, Microsoft's new web tools locked him out of his new website. And, as it turned out, locked him out of every Microsoft website requiring a user name and password(like Hotmail, etc.)

So, naturally, he called Microsofts support hotline, and gets a person who only has passing familiarity with English and then attempts to log in from the support desk. Because the support rep did not speak English well, they were not able to accurately understand my colleague's name, which is not easy to spell for fluent English speakers, they mis-spelled it often enough that the log-in failed and locked this customer out of his own website for 24 hours.

This went on and on for five days, because each support rep was a merely a clerk reading some words off of a screen, and so could not "support" Microsoft's product when it went wrong.

So, technical or any other type of telephone assistance that does not and cannot provide the "assistance" that is needed is not good. Unfortunately, more than ninety percent of all telephone support centers are staffed by people who have never been trained on the item they are supposed to be assisting with; in some case, the support people have never used or even seen the item they are hired to assist with.

What is the point of that?

What is DRM and why it is bad

What is DRM? DRM stands for Digital Rights Management.

When a company releases a product, whether it's downloadable software, movies or music or when it is a physical item (like a CD or DVD), they feel that there should be some way to prevent thieves from copying it and reselling it or just giving it away.

Everyone agrees that stealing is wrong. However, when companies punish their customers, those customers start to think things like "if the company is going to treat me like a criminal, I may as well go the whole way and not have to worry about the restrictions imposed on my legal purchase of the companies product."

If you think that is a bit of a wordy way of saying some people just want to be thieves anyway, I will give you an example of how companies are turning there own customers into thieves (the common term for someone who steals software, or digital copies of music and movies is 'pirate').

Recently, the video game company EA (Electronic Arts) released a game that had been enthusiastically anticpated for several months. This game, Spore, had people lining up at stores just to buy it on the first day it was released.
When these enthusiastic customers got home and opened the game, they were told that they would have to allow their computers to be monitored through the Internet and that they would not be allowed to install the game more than 3 times.

Ever.

If you have ever bought a video game, you know that they tend to last for 10 years or more, provided nothing happens to the disc the game came on. If you have a game that you enjoy playing, and you have a Windows-based computer, chances are that over time you have had to re-install your video games more than 3 times.

The Digital Rights Managements included in the Spore video game was considered to be so onerous and draconian that thousands (perhaps tens of thousands) of normally law-abiding people turned to the Internet in order to illegally download a version of the game that could be installed and re-played repeatedly.

Incidents like this are what is turning paying customers in 'pirates'. And, sometimes, when a person sees no ill effects from this kind of downloading (no viruses, no police kicking in the door at midnight) they continue to pirate material, thus leaving less money in the marketplace for the Next Big Thing.
After all, if people arent going to get paid for their work, they're not going to do the work.

People deserve to get paid for their work.

But, when DRM is so ridiculously bad, it turns honest people into criminals.

And that is bad for society.

Formatting and re-installing Windows

Recently, I have had a customer who had troubles with their Internet. Every time they would type an URL into the address bar, Windows would launch additional browsers windows and then stop responding; causing the user to need to reboot.
No viruses or spyware were found, causing some puzzlement on my part.

When the customer fisrt turned the machine on, the system would would light up and the fans would turn on, but it would neither POST nor boot into Windows. After some investigation, I found that I would need to run a repair installation of Windows in order for the machine to boot into Windows properly.

I did, and Windows did. But, the problem persisted, even after the scanning mentioned above.

It was at this time, that I installed all of the customers recent updates and the newest version of Internet Explorer, as well as the Firefox browser. This appeared to fix the problem.
After a couple of reboots to check for proper operation, it turned out that the problem was not remedied.
This problem could be gotten around by using Firefox(which I always recommend), but, because this was merely a work-around, the customer was not happy.

Normally, this is when I tell people that they need a format and re-installation of Windows.

Formatting erases the hard drives and all problems associated with Windows. Sometimes the situation is so dire that none of the customers data can be saved.
This was not one of those times.

The lesson I have learned from this experience, is that if your computer needs a repair installation of Windows just to get it to turn on, you need to save all of your data immediately and then format and re-install.

And why werent you performing regular backups of your data anyway?

Comcast to meter usage

Comcast plans to meter their customers internet usage starting October 1st. The allowed amount of use will be 250 gigabytes(GB) of data per month; that both upload and download.

Comcast claims that the average user only uses between 2 and 3 GB of data transfer per month.
This calculation is gotten to by assuming that people on Comcast's service only read text emails (not html'ized ones with pictures), do not use webmail (such as Hotmail or Gmail), and do not watch web videos (such as Youtube) or download large files.

According to calculations done by Ars Technica, it would be possible for a heavy user to use up 50GB of data transfer in approximately 6 minutes. By "heavy user," I mean someone who is perhaps uploading their own videos, or who are streaming video from their home computer, or is even using Remote Desktop to get work done.

Because those of us with fast internet connections have come to rely on them, we are using our computers ever more and will get to the point where 250GB is not nearly enough; especially in a time when our Internet providers have promised us 'unlimited' usage.

There are some commentators on the Web who speculate that this is merely a way to drive people of the computer and back to the good ol' telly; which Comcast makes a lot more money from.

Who knows?

Fake security software

In the last year, I have been seeing an increase in the number of computers infected with fake anti-virus and anti-spyware programs.

How do you tell if you have one of these? The tell-tale signs are easy to spot:
1) It suddenly appears and you have no memory of installing it.
2) It has a name that starts with "Win"-something. This doesnt include Windows Defender, not because it is a Microsoft program, but because it spells out "windows".
Fake programs only use "win", like WinAntivirus 2008.
3) You get a little yellow balloon pop-up that says "You have "x" number of infections. Click here to fix." (Where x is a number.)

What you can do about it (aside from calling me) is restart into Safe Mode and then run your AV program.
And of course, use Firefox.

How to talk to computer people

Biznik has a great post on several general ways to communicate with computer people.

The article contains several ways to communicate with technical people, especially IT and computer repair people.
However, the author is not a technical person and she over-generalizes in a couple of places; but, it still a good article to read if you have ever been frustrated trying to communicate with a computer person or IT staff. (This does not include Indian help-desk staff.)

Check it out!

When your network doesnt work

Make sure the modem and router are turned on.
Which boxes are the modem and router? Normally they are the ones with the "blinky" lights, the modem is the one with the phone cord or TV-like cable going into it; and the router is the box with the antennas on it.

Make sure the cables are tightly connected.
If any of the cables, especially the ones that look like fat, round telephone cords, are loose in the plugs-ins unplug them and re-plug them in making sure of a tight fight. The fat phone-like cords(which are called "network" or "Ethernet" cables) should make a soft "click when they are plugged in properly.
If the plugs are loose on the end of the cable, replace the cable.

If you right-click on the network icon and click on Properties and the dialog box says there is no "IP address" or "DNS server", you will need to unplug the power cord from your router, wait thirty seconds, plug it back in, wait for the lights to settle down(about a minute or so) and that should fix the problem.

When in doubt(and Windows says "No Connection"), unplug the router (or the modem if you have no router) first and then try the other suggestions.

Make sure when you plug you network cable back in, you plug it into the plug you took it of of!

If none of this works, your problem needs my attention; call me.

Ed Foster -Consumer Advocate

Last week, Ed Foster died unexpectedly at his home. Ed has been a tireless advocate for consumer rights against corporations, governments and absurd regulations and practices of all sorts.

His website, the GripeLog(at gripe2ed.com), was a never-ending list of stories about corporate abuse of their customers and of people gripes with stupid rules that were never written clearly or enforced evenly.

His son has agreed to continue the website, and Ed's column the GripeLog.

With corporate stupidity and downright carelessness ever increasing, Ed's sage advice and consumer advocacy will be sorely missed.

Ed will be missed.

Why is my computer running slow?

Once you've had your computer for some time, say, a a couple of years, you may notice that your computer seems to work slower than when it was new.

On of the reasons this happens is file fragmentation, which is a normal result of storing programs and data on the hard drive. If you are a heavy user of the computer, de-fragmenting (or defragging) your hard drive should be done once a week or twice a month; depending on how much data you are storing on the hard drive, including installation or deletion of programs.
If you are a light user of the computer, then you need only defrag the hard drive once every month or two.

Another reason your computer may slow down (that doesnt involve viruses or spyware) is the amount of programs you have installed. If you have taken up more than 50% of your hard drive with programs, your computer will run slower simply because the read/write head on the hard drive has to travel more, which takes more time.

Update

If you are having Internet access problems resulting from a Windows Update and you are using Zone Alarm, you must uninstall Zone Alarm, delete ALL leftover folders, and download the newest version-70.483.000 and install it.

The Windows Update should be installed; it is a necessary fix to strengthen Windows against Internet attacks.

If you cant connect to the Internet

...and this only just happened in the last day or two, then your problem is most likely to be the most recent Windows Update. Or, by now (Friday, July 11), the one installed on July 9.

To fix it, remove the update.
Go to Control Panel, Add Remove Programs
Click the option to show Updates in the top corner
Scroll down the list of installed Windows updates and uninstall this one
KB915748.

Then go to Windows Update website and select the option not to download that update again.

The problem is that this update is conflicting with third-party ( not a Microsoft product) firewall programs, especially Zone Alarm.

Microsoft is aware of the problem, but may not be doing anything about it, since this problem benefits their products at the price of your security and convenience.

A Late Independence Day Note

On Independence Day, we are reminded of how our forefathers fought to free us from rulers who abused their power and who did not listen to the problems and complaints of the citizens.

This should remind us also that we as a country must continually fight against the inherent nature of government to limit our freedoms and to control our actions and behaviors. To control us.

What does this have to do with computers? Right now, the government has the right to tap your phones, record your cell phone conversations and text messages, read your emails, watch what websites you go to and demand that stores give up records of what food you eat and what books you read.

According to the Constitution, you have the right to to live your life without interference from, or monitoring by, the government.
Any government, at any level.
Right now, we are giving up those rights. It is not up to the government to decide what we say on the phone, or who we talk to. Or how we use our home computers.

Once we give up the right to privacy(and yes, the courts have upheld a traditional "right to privacy") and non-interference in our lives by the government, we will never get them back short of revolution.

Are you up for revolution; without knowing how much it will cost you personally?

I didnt think so.

So we, as Americans, must make sure our representatives are not cowed by the minority of citizens and the moneyed special interests who would tell our representatives that they must take away our rights, in order to make us "safe."
The world is not a safe place; but we are adults, we accept that there is risk involved in living.

We must prevent our representatives from taking away that risk. When we lose the risk in life, we lose the freedoms that made that risk possible.

Remember, Ben Franklin said "Those who desire both Security and Liberty deserve neither and will receive neither."

Happy Independence Day!

Is your computer breaking the law?

Chances are, the answer is probably yes.
There is an article on Tech Republic about the 10 laws you may be breaking without realizing it.
Some of these laws you may never even have heard about.

Here are some of them:
The Digital Millenium Copyright Act(DMCA): If you make of copy of anything that is copyrighted that isnt yours, you are in violation. This means 5 years in federal prison, and a $250,000 fine for the first offense.
How does this affect you? If you forward that email joke and the author gets upset, you are guilty.

The No Electronic Theft Act(NET): If you make a copy of a song to give to a friend or relative, or if you download a video, or transfer a movie that you own to a portable device(whether or not you lend it to someone) you are in violation.

If you are traveling with electronic gadgets(laptops, PDA's, digital cameras, etc.), Customs and/or the Border Patrol(even the TSA) have the authority and the willingness to order you to allow them to inspect your device before you are allowed back into the United States. Courts have upheld that the 4th Amendment to the Constitution does not apply to personal effects at border crossings.

And, finally, Cyberstalking and cyberbullying. While federal law doesnt forbid you from writing that angry letter to a business you are unhappy with, several state laws are broad enough to interpret an angry letter as "stalking/bullying."

Just another reason to be polite.

On Buying Computer Parts

When you are buying new parts for your computer, or when considering most other electronics purchases as well, there are things you remember before purchasing.

Because there is such a profusion of choices and prices here are some guidelines to help you buy the part or piece of electronics that is right for you:

• What are you going to use it for? Think about what you want to do with it, not just today, but will it still meet your needs tomorrow?
• What is your budget? You should always buy computer parts that are slightly better than what you think you need. Alway buy as much capacity, storage, speed or whatever as your budget allows. By not being cheap, you will allow yourself room to grow into the full capacity of the component(this dos not necessarily apply to TV's or stereos).
• Complexity is not always the best. Just because a component is complex or offers tons of "extra" features, does not always mean it is the best part for your needs. Yes, you should buy the most capacity or your component, but "capacity"(speed, storage, etc) does not equal "features"(the ability to record TV, being able to output to five different devices all at once, etc.) Dont be afraid to ask the salesperson questions(although you will get better answers if you shop at a store that specializes in the item you are buying).
• Highest price is not always the best. Even though you are trying to get the best product for your money, the highest priced item for your budget isnt necessarily the best item for your needs. Be sure to read the side of the box(es) and compare features and capacity. You may find out that the highest priced item in your budget range may not be supported by the computer you have.

There you have it; a few guidelines that I hope have not confused you even more.

Laptops and power plugs

The most common problem with laptops (aside from Windows issues) is the power plug, aka power jack or AC adapter.
Because laptops have to be made to exacting specifications, there is little to no room to reinforce the AC adapters position on the motherboard. This means that the rougher the user is on the equipment, the sooner the plug will be worked off of its mounting.
If a person is continually jamming the plug in or, more commonly, yanking out the cord then the more likely they are to pull the adapter off of its mountings.

How easy is this to repair? That depends on the make and model of the laptop; some brands are far easier to disassemble and reassemble than others. Also, it depends on the extent of the damage.
If the problem is found when the plug is "a little wiggly," then its a relatively quick fix because the mounting points can be reset and reinforced.
If the first time the problem is noticed is when the user notices a "strange rattle where the power plug was," then it is probably too late and its time for a new laptop.

The bottom line is: be gentle with your power cord, and it will outlast you.

Getting your computer RAIDed

More computer are being sold with a type of hard drive storage called RAID; so I thought I would talk a little about what RAID is, and what it does.

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive, depending on who you ask) Disks. It is a way of improving performance, improving stability or safeguarding data.

RAID comes in several different types: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and several others.

The most common (for consumers) types of RAID are 0 and 1.
RAID 0(zero) is two hard drives hooked together to make one larger hard drive. This is called "striped without parity," and provides both larger capacity and faster performance than single hard drives.
The downside to RAID 0 is that if one drive fails or is corrupted, then the data on that drive is lost.
When I say "parity" I mean the ability to detect errors in the stored data. Also called "error correction."

RAID 1 is "mirrored;" two or more hard drives are connected together so that each one is an exact duplicate of the other. Thus if one drive fails or is corrputed, then the data on the other drive remains safe. RAID 1 is "mirrored without parity".

So know you know if a salesman says RAID 0, you know it means data spread across two hard drives and RAID 1 means data duplicated across two (or more) hard drives.

Recovery Discs

Whenever you buy a new computer, especially when you buy it from a name brand company such as HP, Dell, Compaq, Gateway, etc., be sure you receive a Recovery Disk!

If something were to go catastrophically wrong with your installation of Windows, and the chances are high that it will, you will need to recover, aka re-install, Windows, all the drivers for your hardware and peripherals(printers and such), and all the programs that came with your computer.

Because the five minutes it takes for a company to create a recovery disk for you is five minutes the company is losing money, do not expect to have it handed to you with the computer.
You must ask the salesperson you are dealing with for the recovery CD (or DVD, if you are buying a computer with Vista installed).
Most nation-wide chain stores will provide you with a recovery CD, but they will charge you for it. If the store charges more than $10, it is a rip-off. (Most major brands of computer makers will mail you, or allow you to download and burn, a recovery CD/DVD for your exact model of computer; but you shouldnt have to ask.)

You should ask the salesperson if there is a recovery CD/DVD that comes with the machine. If one does not come with a CD/DVD, you should shop somewhere else that does provide one.

If your brand new computer comes with a recovery partition (a part of the hard drive where the recovery and re-installation information is stored), you should ask the salesperson how to access it if Windows fails to boot.

Having a recovery disc is like having jumper cables in your car; if you have them, you are less likely to need them, but you will be thankful to have if you ever need them.

Networking luncheon tomorrow

Tomorrow I am going to a lucheon hosted by a local networking group, Biznik. If you are a small business owner and want to have lunch with a bunch of other small business owners, come on over!

The luncheon will be at Alligator Soul on Broadway, in Everett, at 11:30. (You can find directions and a map at Biznik.com)

Hope to see you there.

Mac or PC?

Alot of people are asking these days "What about Macs?," "Should I get a Mac?" and similar questions.
The answer is "it depends;" it depends on what you want to do with your computer, how much you want to spend, and are you willing to unlearn and re-learn how to work with your computer.

If you want to play high-end video games (in addition to everyday use), you need a PC. If, however, you are(or plan to be) creative then you may be better off buying a Macintosh.
Be aware however, that Mac are 2-3 times as expensive as an average PC(an average PC that costs $600-700).

The reason Mac's are looking so much more attractive now than they have been is due in large part to the fact that the current Macs are compatible with PC hardware and that you are able to run Windows(Windows XP only) on a Mac at the same time the Mac operating system is running. Like a picture-in-picture TV.
This is called "running a virtual machine" and it means that with the addition of a small program, you can run Windows in a program window on the Mac desktop, and run any Windows program you have as if it were on a PC.
When you are using a virtual Windows, however, Windows XP is just as vulnerable to all the bad stuff it is normally vulnerable to, so you would need to have all the same anti-virus and other security programs installed in your virtual Windows.
The good news about having a "virtual machine" running Windows is that nothing that happens in the virtual machine(or VM, for short) window affects the host computer(the Mac). So if Windows XP should "blue screen," or otherwise crash, you would just close the program window that Windows is in and re-open it... to a fresh un-crashed Windows.

So, if you are wondering whether your next computer should be a Mac, consider:
price: more an investment than a purchase
usability: how hard will it be to use
compatibility: will it run the programs I already have
creativity: does my job, or my artisitic impulses justify having a better machine

Once you have considered all these things, go out and buy that Mac!
(and dont forget your virtual machine program!)

Your PC guy, Peter

For Earth Day

I thought I would talk about what to do with your old computer, or monitor or other electronics.

For computers, you can:
Take them to a reputable electronics recycler(one that doesnt ship them to China and dump them in a landfill),
Give them away; to friends, neighbors, kids or your favorite charity. They dont have to work; charities can use computers for vocational training(by teaching people how to assemble/disassemble them), or
Re-use the parts that can be re-used; this way the next computer is cheaper!

10 Things People Do That Mess Up Their Computers

Tech Republic has an article on the 10 things people do that hurt their computers. By following the link, you can read the full article.

Some of these are obvious, some are not.

#1: Plug into the wall without surge protection.

#2: Surf the Internet without a firewall.

#3: Neglect to run or update antivirus and anti-spyware programs.
#4: Install and uninstall lots of programs, especially betas.

#5: Keep disks full and fragmented.

#6: Open all attachments.

#7: Click on everything.

#8: Share and share alike.

#9: Pick the wrong passwords.

#10: Ignore the need for a backup and recovery plan.

As long as you don't do any of these things, you will be on the road to safer and happier computing.

Common methods of ID Theft

Everyone has heard of identity theft, but most people dont realize that ID theft is (mostly) plain, old-fashioned fraud with a spiffy new name that is scary.

Identity theft is still just theft. But how do these thieves get your identity in the first place?

The Post Office has published the most common ways ID thieves get your information.

Dumpster Diving: Rummaging through your trash. This is why you should shred every piece of mail or other papers that have you name, address, and any identifying information on them(phone numbers, account numbers, billing or credit card information, etc).

Skimming: Stealing your credit/debit card information by running it through a separate card reader while processing your card normally(at the ATM, or a restaurant where the server takes your card and comes back with it later).

Phishing: Fake emails that lure you into going to a scam or virus-laden website where you are convinced to give out your personal information.

Changing Your Address: Diverting your billing statements to another address by giving the Post Office a "change of address" form.

"Old-Fashioned" Stealing: Stealing wallets and purse; mail out of mailboxes; filling out pre-approved credit card offers; intercepting new checks or tax information. Thieves also steal records from their employers, or bribe employees who have access.

And lastly, Buying Customer Records From Credit Bureaus: Thieves will pretend to be legitimate businesses(who buy and sell your information daily as just another way to make money) and then buy your records from your bank or credit reporting agencies, even from government agencies.

Now that you know the most common ways thieves and fraudsters get your identity, you can better protect it.

When to format

It is hard to know, while working on a computer, when to give up and format the hard drive.

I worked on a customer's computer recently and spent several hours without coming to a successful conclusion. Thinking about it now, I realize that it would have been faster, and more satisfactory to the customer, to, once the normal methods of problem-solving had been exhausted, save all of the customer's irreplaceable data and format the hard drive and then re-install Windows.
The problem I faced was that Windows was functioning normally, mostly, and the Internet connection was stable, mostly. Even with the few minor viruses gotten rid of, the problem lingered. With this type of situation, it is easy to think "Well, it must be a virus, or spyware, or this, or that..." and keep looking for something concrete that you can say "This is the problem!" and once you get rid of that thing, all will be right with the computer.
But, the problem with that is you get stuck in a rut and can't think of other solutions to the problem. Which is what happened to me, leading to customer dissatisfaction.

So, now I think that if I have spent two hours or so diagnosing and scanning for the most common resolutions to the problem and have not found a solution, then it is probably time to backup all irreplaceable data (all the stuff you dont want to lose) and consider re-installing Windows(by formatting the hard drive).

Different people, geeks, repairmen, technicians, will all have different ideas about this, but I think this is the most workable answer to the question "Should I keep trying to fix the problem or is it faster to format the hard drive (and re-install Windows)."

After all, they're paying me for the time spent and if it is faster to start over, then that is what I should do, isnt it?

Tulips!

I'm not doing a regular blog post today, because I am going up to see the tulips in the Skagit Valley.

Right now it is the annual Tulip Festival; so I am going while I can.

See you later this week with more computer goodness.

Three weeks later...

...and alot of tomorrows. Things got really busy for a bit, but I'm back and on to Step Three.

OK, you've decided what to buy and you've bought it; Step Two A is... wait. In a few days your parts will arrive. (if you bought them at a store, you already have them.)

Step Three: Arrival. Once you have your parts, inspect them. (If you bought them at a store, you already know what you have.) Make sure that what is on the packing/shipping list is what you bought and is what is actually in the box.

If there is a discrepancy, follow the directions you were given on how to return items or how to contact the reseller.

Make a clean work area that you can spread the parts out on. A large desktop (or workbench) that is clean of papers and other objects is best. A kitchen counter can also work, or you can use the top of a bed as a last resort. If you use a bed, spread a clean light-colored bed sheet across the bed so that you can see all the parts and screws.

Step Four: Pre-Assembly. Once you have your work surface ready, lay out out your parts in the order in you will need them.
Case and the parts that came with it.
Motherboard and its attendant parts.
CPU and fan
RAM
Hard drive(s)
Video and sound card(s)
Optical drive(s) - These are CD and/or DVD drives.
Additional optional hardware such as additional case fans, watercooling, etc.

Unfortunately, I did not have the time to photograph the system I was building so I could demonstrate the process of assembly.

Next time, hopefully I will have more time, and I will revisit the actual steps of the assembly process.

As for Steps 5, 6, and 7, they are Assembly, Installing the OS and Finishing Up.
I will address these in the next posting.

This Week: Building A Computer

This week I am going to be building a computer for a customer, and I thought I would share with you the various steps that go into building a computer.

Building a new computer is not for everyone. Some budgets just will not allow it. So I am going to show you what it takes to build one; I am not going to discuss the different options for buying a new computer (of which there are several). Because I am building a new computer for someone this is to show what it looks like.

Step One: Budget. How much can you you spend on a new computer. Be honest with yourself, this is the most important step. A new computer will be at least $500; and it will just go up from there.
In order to know how much money you should spend for the parts for your new computer, you must decide(step 1a) what you are going to do with it, or what you intend to do with it down the road (say, in six months or so).
Are you going to:
Play video games? If you are, double or triple your budget. Video games are computer resource intensive and will not run on budget "boxes" (slang for the chassis the computer sits in).

Use office productivity software? Programs like Word, Excel, Powerpoint and your email program will run on even the cheapest of computers (except Office 2007).

Use photo, audio or video production or manipulation software? Programs such as Photoshop, CAD, any 3D modeling program, or any program to turn you home video into an actual movie (or to move DVD's to portable players) are almost as resource-hungry as video games. You should assume your budget to be double your initial estimate.
How do you know whether your first idea of a budget is right? That brings us to...

Step Two: Research. Now that you know what you want to do, you need to find the parts. Ok, how? There are a myriad ways to to do research, but only a few will get you the right parts that fit your budget.
You could ask the the salesman at the nearest Big Box Store, because teenagers know everything, right? No. You find a local computer store and ask the salesperson there what would be best for your needs and budget. Or...
You use the Internet. After all, if its one the Internet, it must be true, right. No. You go to www.resellerratings.com and see which website has the fewest complaints (and the highest customer ratings). Then you check out the various recommended websites and look for your desired parts. Some of the websites have customer ratings on the same page as the parts. Make sure you read whats there.
If you are not sure that about your part selection, or want to know what more knowledgeable people think, type the name of the part into Google(or your favorite search engine) followed by the word "reviews". Then read. Then buy.

Tomorrow, Step Three.

Check your security

As most of you are aware, security between your computer and the Internet is of utmost importance.
In order to assist you with making sure your computer is as secure as possible, here is a link to a website which will scan your Internet connection for any open holes through which malicious attacks may come.
Shields Up! is an online vulnerability scanner. It tests whether Windows is leaking information about you to the Web, whether your firewall is actually protecting you, and what websites see about you when you visit them.

I suggest that you click on each of the top row of tests, see what happens, and read what it says about the results. If it says you have passed entirely, feel good; if you get any other result, you should call me and I will come over and fix things up so that you will pass.

Quick tips for your PC

To stop XP from loading any programs in the Startup folder, hold down Shift while the computer is starting up.

To see what programs are loading when Windows starts up (and why it seems to take forever), got to the Start button, click Run, and type 'msconfig.' On the far right-hand side, there is a tab that says Startup. Click that and you will see all of the things that are turning on once the Windows desktop has turned on.

To obtain more information about a listing in Msconfig, expand the width of the Command column and you'll see the startup command and its location. To find out what program the listing is, type the program name into Google (or your favorite search engine).

Microsoft recommends that you defragment your hard drive when your free disk space reaches 15%.

Another Keyboard Tip

Most of you probably already know this, but:
To use the keyboard to move between open windows, press the Alt key and the the Tab key.

If you press the Tab key a second time, another window will come up. You can press the Alt-Tab keys until the window you want is in front.

Also, an easy to minimize windows is to click on the windows name in the Task Bar at the bottom of the screen; to bring the window back up, just click on the window's name in the Task Bar and up it comes.

I know these are all really basic, but some of you may not have known. Now you do!

Five criteria for determining spyware

Here are the five criteria that Microsoft (and others) use to determine if a program qualifies as spyware, and the level of danger that it poses.

1. "Deceptive behaviors. Runs processes or programs on the user's computer without notifying the user and getting the user's consent. Prevents users from controlling the actions taken by the program while it runs on the computer. Prevents users from uninstalling or removing the program."

2. "Privacy. Collects, uses, or communicates the user's personal information and behaviors (such as Web browsing habits) without explicit consent."

3."Security. Attempts to circumvent or disable the security features on the user’s computer, or otherwise compromises the computer's security."

4. "Performance. Undermines performance, reliability, and quality of the user's computing experience with slow computer speed, reduced productivity, or corruption of the operating system."

5. "Industry and consumer opinion. Considers the input from software industry and individual users as a key factor to help identify new behaviors and programs that might present risks to the user's computing experience."

You can go here to read more about it, including longer explanations of the five criteria. You will find them about halfway down the page.

New service pack for Windows XP

Microsoft has recently confirmed that it is creating a third Service Pack for Windows XP.
A "service pack" (or SP) is a collection of patches, fixes and general improvements that Microsoft believes will make the operating system work better.

Early testing on SP3 indicates that not only is does it show a 10% improvement in performance (read speed) over Windows XP Service Pack 2, but it makes Windows XP work almost twice as fast as Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 installed. You can read details of the testing here.

The difference between the hard drive and RAM

Alot of my customers ask me "What is the difference between the hard drive and RAM?"

The hard drive is storage memory, similar to the filing cabinet in an office. Its where you put things you want to save.

RAM (or Random Access Memory) is working memory, its similar to a desk in an office. You can only place so many things on the desk top at any one time. With RAM as your desktop, you can only do as much work as you have space on your desk. When you increase the amount of RAM, your desktop gets larger so you can work on more things at once or do fewer things faster.

Next time, I will talk about the dangers of using file-sharing (aka peer-to-peer or computer-to-computer) programs.

Cell phone acronyms

Have you ever wondered what all those cell phone acronyms meant? I have too.

So here I will set them out for you, what they are and what they mean.

For networks (how the signal travels from phone to phone) there are pretty much only two choices:
CDMA and GSM.

CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access and is the network used by Verizon and Sprint/Nextel.

GSM stands for Global System for Mobile communications, and is the network used by T-Mobile and AT&T. Outside of the United States, GSM is the standard, but American GSM phones will not work with international (Asia/European) GSM networks due to incompatible radio frequencies.

EV-DO stands for Evolution-Data Optimized and is a 3G network. It is the way laptop and smart-phone users connect to the Internet at DSL speeds.

EDGE stands for Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution and is technically a 3G network, but because of slow network speeds (similar to low-end DSL) it is called "2.5G" or "2.75G."

EVDO only works on CDMA networks and EDGE only works on GSM networks.

3G stands for "third generation network", and is the way phone companies advertise the ability to quickly surf the Internet, download music and watch streaming movies or TV. Due to the cost of providing DSL-quality bandwidth to cell phones, most cell phone companies in America have not completed their 3G network.
Verizon tends to lead in network availability and ability to browse web pages quickly, with other CDMA carriers following. GSM phone companies (AT&T/T-Mobile) continue to lag with the expansion of their networks to 3G speeds (3G speeds are comparable to DSL).

"Smart"-phone is a term used to describe any cell phone or mobile device that uses an operating system like Windows or Palm (although there are others).

SIM cards are Subscriber Identity Module cards used in GSM phones (both American and International) that are a small physical card that contains all the users phone numbers and other information. The SIM card can be removed and placed in any other compatible GSM phone; thus making it easier to transfer handsets. (CDMA phones do not use SIM cards.)

Problems with uploading

Last month, people using Comcast cable internet were reporting problems with their upload speed. As it turns out, Comcast is deliberately stalling, "delaying", the upload signal from their subscribers computers, when certain programs were used.

If you are having trouble using your webcam, your Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone, like Vonage or Comcast Digital Phone, or are experiencing more than usual lag with online video games, then this is the reason.

Published interviews with Comcast personnel indicate that calling and complaining will do no good, because the call center staff have been told to lie to callers.

Read more about it here and here.

Why is Firefox more secure than Internet Explorer?

When I suggest that my customers use Firefox instead of Explorer, alot of them ask "why is Firefox more secure than Internet Explorer?" This post will try to give you an understanding of the difference between the two browsers.

Simply put, Explorer is tied to the Microsoft Operating System (aka Windows), while Firefox is not.
All versions of Windows (98, XP, Vista, etc) and all other O.S.'s (Macintosh, Linux, etc) have several parts; one of these is the File Management program. In Windows, the file manager is called "My Computer" or "Windows Explorer."
By clicking on "My Computer" the user is allowed to view, modify or delete any or all of the files and documents on the computer, including files necessary for Windows to operate; the user may also use Internet Explorer to view, modify or delete any file. This is a problem because if the user can do it while sitting at the computer, a hacker or malicious program can also do it through the user's Internet connection.
Firefox is not designed to access the computer's file management program ("My Computer"), which means that malicious programs cannot access it through the browser either.

So now, you might be asking "How does Internet Explorer let bad stuff into my computer?" It does this through a mini-program that websites can add to your browser, called ActiveX controls.
Back at the beginnings of the Web, when most people only had dial-up access, web pages were mostly text with a few pictures. Microsoft, in an attempt to make Web pages that were viewed through Internet Explorer look better, created little mini-programs that would automatically (and invisibly to you, the user) download into Explorer and make the web pages have bells and whistles and animations and all sorts of additional little things that made the web pages become more alive (this is called "interactive" or "dynamic"). This way web pages seen in Explorer would look far better than the same pages seen through Netscape's browser.
Over time, the bad guys on the Internet realized they could build their own "controls" and Explorer would automatically download and run them like any other program.

It was in this way that the bad guys were able to take over peoples computers. Because ActiveX controls are run through the browser(which if you remember, allows anyone to delete or modify files necessary for Windows to operate properly), most anti-virus programs do not recognize the malicious controls as threats and do not get rid of them.

Firefox is just another program as far as the operating system (Windows) is concerned; just like Word, or Adobe Reader.

This is why Firefox is more secure than Internet Explorer; because people or programs on the Internet cannot infect or control your computer without your knowledge.