Reality Catches Up With Symantec

It has happened! I will not lie to you, some part of me is chuckling gleefully. Symantec, the maker of the (in-)famous Norton products recommends to their customers:

“Symantec recommends disabling the product until Symantec releases a final set of software updates that resolve currently known vulnerability risks,” 

This is original text from an online statement released by Symantec about their computers having been hacked back in 2006! Emphasis added by me.

A few things are of interest to me:

1. They must have known about this for 6 (SIX!) years and kept it a secret.
    
2. They write "currently known ... risks".
   They knew about the risks all along but did not care to fix them!
    
3. They ask customers that have paid dearly for the purchase and are paying dearly for updating the software to stop using it altogether with no offer of any compensation at all.
   Pretty arrogant and overbearing if you ask me.

The short of it: I feel very relieved to now have it from the horse's mouth:

Stay far way from everything with a "Norton" label.

And applying my experiences with any other of the big name security suites (read about three examples) I now feel emboldened to say "Stay away from any of them". 

And if you want some more detail go to this FoxNews.com article.


As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

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The Computer is NOT a Toy

Your computer is not a toy, even if your children or grandchildren disagree. Use it responsibly and enjoy it.

Antivirus software can help you prevent certain types of malicious software and viruses. But any antivirus is not the ultimate solution. 

If your system is slow or sluggish it does not necessarily have to be virus infected. Mostly some program is causing the slow down, very often big "security suites" are the culprit (see here). Or over time too many programs think they always have to run in the background or simply by now your hardware is outdated.

“Outdated hardware?” you ask? Oh yes; Windows and most important programs get updated all the time. That means they are being made more secure and/or get new functionality. This is possible only by growing larger; they contain much more code than they did originally. Your hardware is still what was sufficient in 2004, 2005 or 2006 but this not sufficient any longer.

We may not like to be told directly and honestly but most security problems with Windows computers are caused by.... the user. Keep your common sense hat firmly on at all times and think before you act.

Remember:" With great power comes great responsibility!" As a responsible user, you can enjoy the web without “pay through the nose” bloated and expensive security suites and without having to battle viruses or rogue programs.

Everything you need is available free of charge if you do your homework before going to that download site only because “there was a link”. Example at hand: Many well known and widely distributed computer publications (ZDNet, PC World are only examples!) will give you download links to Download.com. This site will always download and install a totally superfluous "Downloader" program that from then on will always run in the background on your computer.  

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

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Computer 101 - The 2012 Edition

Disclosure:
Recently I found this article on a blog called The Consumerist. I liked the contents of this article very much but it clearly was written by a computer nerd for other computer nerds.

I took the liberty to re-write most of the article in a form and language that I hope is better suited for my customers. Here it is:  

1. Keep all your data backed up.
    
   Put your data on an external HDD, upload it to a safe storage website, copy it to another computer or even on a CD or a DVD (most cumbersome!), somewhere, anywhere but please back up your data files!
   
   I am perfectly aware that many of my customers will have issues in setting everything up correctly but as usual I can help.
   
   Having your data on your computer only is NO GOOD, having data files in two places is a MUST. If one of these sets of data files fails you need to create another second storage location! This will save you $$$ and a lot of aggravation.
   
   Manufacturer warranties do not cover your data files; you need to protect them yourself. Back up your documents, pictures, emails, email addresses (or contacts), bookmarks (or favorites), tax files, music, videos and ANY business information you may have.
   
   The only exception to my rule "free software for everything" covers data backup. You need a sufficiently large external disk drive and a piece of software costing $30 per computer.
   
   If set up correctly all your data files always are automatically kept up to date additionally on the external disk drive.
   
   
2.  Have a current recovery disc for each computer you have.
   
   This is your licensed copy of your OS. You no longer get operating system disks with a new computer; it’s all stored on the disk drive. It is specific to your computer's internals like processor, mother board, sound and graphics. It has the device drivers your computer needs to do its most basic tasks. Burn a recovery disk on to DVDs right away when you get your computer and put the DVD somewhere safe. It may easily take up to 3 hours to do.
   
   If you lose the recovery disk then you can order a new one from your manufacturer for between 15 and 50 dollars, depending on the brand. HP is usually cheaper, Sony is wickedly expensive. They take about 2 or 3 weeks to arrive; that is a looong wait if you need them NOW to replace a hard drive or to fix Windows.
   
   There is a significant difference between recovery disks and a repair disk that you need to be aware of. You can read about that here. You have to be aware of that significant difference. And you have to be aware of the fact that if you have to use these recovery disks your computer will be thrown back to exactly the state it was in at the very moment when the recovery disks where created!
   
   If for whatever reason you can neither buy recovery disks from the manufacturer nor create your own disks then, as a last resort,  you can purchase a full copy of Windows 7 for about $100.
   
   
3. One antivirus at a time, please.
   
   Two antivirus programs running concurrently is like pushing two fat pigs together through a dog door, neither can get through the door correctly and they block each other from functioning properly.
   
   Two antivirus or security programs can tear nasty holes in your operating system depending on which ones you are trying to combine (I have seen it!) or at least they will SLOW DOWN YOUR COMPUTER TO A CRAWL because two systems are trying to scan your every move as well as each others moves.
   
   More than one antivirus or security program running concurrently is usually LESS protection than one good one.
   
   Your new computer most likely came with a trial of some sort of “security” software pre-installed. All these pre-installed antivirus or security programs will cost money, every year! Remove this stuff because you don’t need to pay for a good antivirus program!
   
   Remove the “old” antivirus program before installing a new one; even if they are expired they will get in each other‘s way! And some of them don’t even uninstall correctly. I have uninstalled Norton and McAfee programs and upon detailed inspection found some left over parts of these systems still sitting in and actually running on the computer. This inspection is not trivial at all; it takes very special programs and a lot of detailed know how to do it correctly.
   
   Install the free program Microsoft Security Essentials; you can read here how to do that correctly.
   
   
4. Do not install any tool bars. 
    Did you hear me?  Please DO NOT INSTALL ANY TOOL BARS!
   
   ALL toolbars are bloatware, they will slow down your internet connection and eventually even crash your web browser.
   
   You don't need any of them, no matter how well known the company is that wants to force the tool bar on your computer!
   
   Tool bars take up screen space and they will end up affecting performance and sometimes even security.
    Please DO NOT INSTALL ANY TOOL BARS!
   
   
5. "Free" stuff can be expensive:
   
   Web sites that offer free games, movies, music (torrent sites!), pornography and even free social networking sites are riddled with viruses. Virus removal can be time and thus $$$ consuming.
   
   Viruses are a software issue and are considered private data, they are not covered by any warranty.
   
   Be safe and smart on the internet, use common sense and be vigilant.
   
   Keep your important software up to date; read more details about updating here.
   
   
6. Despite everything said in paragraph #5 above: Excellent free software is available for almost any functionality you can imagine and I can point you in the correct direction, I can show you where to find it.
    
7. Computers don’t like liquids.
   
   This includes water, coke, beer, soup, bodily fluids and excessive and/or aggressive cleaners.
   
   Don't spray screen cleaners directly on your screen, spray it on your lint free cleaning cloth and then wipe the screen. Even a mist of any liquid can cause damage.
   
   Computers also don’t like gravity or being punched. This will probably cause a lot more damage and not fix any issue, be it speed or erratic behavior.
   
   
8. No computer is immortal.
   
   Computer technology changes at an extremely fast rate. Average computer life spans are mere 2-3 years for laptops or closer to 4-5 years for desktop computers. This makes sense, because laptops undergo more stress from movement, impact and temperature changes. Many laptops are prone to overheating if you have them sitting “just” on your lap, on a table cloth(!) or on a pillow.
   
   Your computer uses electricity that in turn circulates through lots of electronic circuitry that then gets hot. Many portable computers eventually burn out. And if you have your data backed up, you'll be up and running on a new computer in no time.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

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No Dell Or HP/Compaq Please - If You Ask Me

In the shortest way I can come up with here the reasons why I currently recommend to stay away from Dell and HP/Compaq computers.

At the time of writing about 5 or 6 months ago Hewlett Packard (HP) announced publicly that they want to sell their complete PC computer business. The price tag was quoted as US $ 11.2 Billion.

Not only their back then CEO lost his job over this publicity blunder, no, 6 or 8 weeks later, after a new CEO got hired, HP declared "No, we changed our mind, we want to keep our PC computer business".

In November/December 2004 IBM announced that they were selling their PC computer business to an until then almost unknown company in China named Lenovo. I remember very well the confusion that ensued. It took years until all was sorted out and we slowly learned to trust the new brand Lenovo.

I would accept a personal wager that HP is still talking about selling their PC business, but now behind closed doors. With the IBM/Lenovo story in mind I can not recommend to buy from HP, a manufacturer that may not be around anymore in maybe less than one year.


Dell is a slightly different story. Please read this article on my blog and follow the link I have there to the New York Times article about a class action lawsuit against Dell. After reading this you will understand why in good conscience I can not recommend to buy a computer from Dell, a company with a proven history of lying to their customers and of shirting well-grounded warranty claims as company policy.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

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Danger! Most Wireless Routers Can Be Hacked

If you have a wireless router in your house then you should read on; if you don't (yet) have a wireless router in your home then you might want to read on anyway to be better prepared for the day when you will get one.

The Technology Reseller Channel CRN published a US-CERT warning concerning most wireless routers that I want to translate into hopefully easier to understand language.

By far most of the wireless routers sold in the last two to four years contain a feature called WPS. WPS is meant to make it easy to connect wireless devices to the router by using the WPS button on the router. Basically the router transmits the encryption code (often erroneously called wireless password) wirelessly to the device you want to connect.

The WPS protocol used for this process has a design flaw. This flaw allows a knowledgeable attacker to break into your wireless network.

Millions of wireless routers sold over the last few years have WPS capabilities built in and thus are opening your wireless network to potentially being hacked into. Generally WPS is by default turned ON.

What can you do about it? There is only one way to stay safe from this risk:

Turn WPS off!

The way to do this is different for every router model out there. You will have to delve into the documentation for your router and find out how to do it in your specific piece of hardware.

If you are not comfortable with doing this kind of technical setting then you can let me know, I will be happy too help.  

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

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I Do Not Sell Any Hardware

All too often I receive emails from customers with a stement similar to the following:

 "I just purchased an XYZ computer from you....".

To keep the record straight I have to correct such a statement because it gives the incorrect impression that I sold the computer which is not the case.

I advised you to buy this computer and you bought it in your own name and with your credit card from ..... (fill in your store name).

Because your computer was according to your own words not working at all or possibly virus infected or too slow we physically may have used my computer for the purchasing process.

I have to insist on this clarification for reasons buried deeply in the tax codes of the United States and of the State of Wisconsin and the implications it would have for me if I would actually sell any hardware.

I do not sell computers or any (other) hardware.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

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Email Client vs. Web Interface

If you use a regular email client program (I recommend and support Mozilla Thunderbird only) it helps to be aware of a few simple things about email.

Email client programs download the mails to the computer they run on and you maintain the emails and your filing system yourself. Once the emails are on your computer they should be gone from your ISP's server; IMHO this is an important security and privacy aspect.

I usually talk to my customers about the differences between an email client and an Internet based Web Interface and some of the consequences. "Normally" you should maintain your emails on your home computer, IMHO at least.

If you leave the emails on the ISP's server and access them only through a Web Interface you have no control whatsoever about who and what the ISP allows to scan and analyze your emails. Okay, I do not trust big companies' privacy promises, not at all; in the past there have been way too many bad surprises. 

If you travel and want to see what new emails have arrived (and if the email client on the home computer is inactive) you typically go through a Web Interface, that is an Internet based way of accessing the emails that have not yet been downloaded to the computer at home. The three most common large Internet Service Providers in our area and the  URL to access their Web Interfaces are:

• Charter: https://web.charter.net/login/email_login.php
• Time-Warner (Roadrunner): https://webmail.wi.rr.com/
  
• ATT U-verse and DSL: https://login.yahoo.com/config/login_verify2

Many people do not want to deal with the "complexity" I described above. For these people I recommend an account with Google Mail at gmail.com.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

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Worst Crapware Offenders - IMHO

If you are a customer of mine and if I have set-up your computer then you have an age old article about the gunk software on new PCs available; this article was first published in summer 2006. So far this old article was my only third party justification for offering my Set-Up job; finally here is more third party justification.

I really try hard not to rely on other people's writings for my blog posts. But sometimes I happen across something that comes right from my own heart. This is the case with Ed Bott's article on the ZDNet blog The Ed Bott Report. His articles  On consumer PCs, crapware is still a performance-sapping nuisance and  12 ways hardware makers screw up a perfectly good Windows PC tell the sad truth.  

Let's face it, there are many more than 12 ways how PC manufacturers mess up perfectly good computers! But alone the fact that someone of Ed Bott's stature and influence begins to write about this issue is not only new but almost sensational.

Another recent example of writing about the current "crapware" epidemic is in Michael Kassner's article Five Tips For Getting Rid Of Crapware on the TechRepublic web site. As interesting as this article is I do have to comment on his five tips because they are NOT AT ALL suitable for the non-technical home user. The author recommends in this sequence:

1. Buy a computer free of crapware
   Well said but too late when you unpack the new machine, you have it already.
2. Autoruns from Sysinternals
   IMHO a typical "tip" from a journalist lacking technical detail. Autoruns is an excellent utility in the hands of a knowledgeable technician to eliminate unwanted start-up programs but it is NOT a tool to remove, that is uninstall unwanted programs at all!
3. CCleaner
   An excellent tool, I use it almost daily. BUT you still need to know what to make of the long list of installed programs you are presented with. Not a tool for the average non-technical home user at all!
4. PC De-Crapifier
   This program costs money! It presents you with a list of third party (that is non Microsoft) programs and you have to make the decision if you want to remove it or not. Not a tool for the average non-technical home user at all!
5. Win-Patrol
   Certainly a good program but just a tiny bit of googling gives the same and often even more information. And still the final yes/no decision is with the poor non-technical home user who generally just does not have the know-how needed to make these choices correctly.

Yes, we do have a problem with all the crappy software that comes pre-installed on brand new, brand name computers.

A significant part of what I do every week is cleaning crapware from new computers as part of my Set-Up Job. From the experience with this I venture to give my own, very individual and clearly opinionated version of a list of the IMHO worst crapware offenders; the worst being right up front.

1. Samsung
2. Sony
3. Toshiba
4. HP / Compaq
5. Asus
6. Dell
7. Lenovo
8. Acer / Gateway / eMachines

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

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About Libre Office

When I help any customer order a new computer I always have this or a shorter version of this conversation with them:

If the customer owns a paid retail versions of MS Office then this gets installed and the conversation is over.If they do not own MS Office Then I will explain to them that on the new computer will be a trial version of Microsoft Office installed.

That usually means MS Word, MS Excel and MS PowerPoint are available. This trial version will fully work only for 30 or 60 days depending on the computer manufacturer and the MS Office version.

After this initial one or two month(s) the customer will have to buy a license to obtain a product key; with that  product key they can activate MS Office for full functionality. This license costs an additional $100 to $150.-

There is an alternative office suite named Libre Office available (formerly called Open Office). This software suite does about 95% of what MS Office does and it is free, free as in no money ever. It is widely used in Europe and many third world countries.

Do you want me to leave MS Office on the machine or do you want me to install Libre Office (formerly Open Office) instead?

More than nine out of ten of my customers decide to go with Libre Office. 

If I do the set up of Libre Office correctly it will open, read and write MS Word, MS Excel and MS PowerPoint files. Generally I do not install the Libre Office drawing and database modules which are of no interest to my typical home users.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

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Buying Computers at Best Buy

Many customers of mine ask me for advice what computer to buy. Often I have to send them to a Best Buy store simply because BB sometimes has rock bottom priced offers that can't be beat anywhere. 

Best Buy has perfected several techniques of power selling. As every big company does they see to their own bottom line first and customers are an unavoidable means to that end.

 

Here is some advice derived from my own years of experience at Best Buy stores and from stories customers told me. The following is not said to blackmail Best Buy, it is an attempt to help you to protect yourself. 

Their sales people are excellently trained to push additional "stuff" on you that you don't need. 

They use FUD to confuse you, especially when they realize that you don't know much about computers and/or are insecure.

Go there well prepared, best with a printout of the first page of the description of the computer from their own web site. Say "I want to buy THIS computer and nothing else, absolutely nothing else!".

  

Do NOT accept any additional "offers".

• You do NOT need any of the anti virus or security programs they offer.
• You do NOT need a worthless extended warranty.
• You do NOT want ANY extras.
• Be stubborn, buy the computer ONLY.
• If the sales person gets too obnoxious ask them what part of NO they don't understand.

As usual I welcome comments and suggestions right here in the blog. Thank you in advance.

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