Saturday, February 26, 2022

Suicide - or Norton? Little difference...

 I very rarely link to or quote other Internet based computer sources. But today I HAVE to do just that. 

You all probably know Youtube.com and at least one of Youtube's over 51 million channels. As far as computer stuff goes Linus Tech Tips (LTT for short) is one of the IMHO very good and reliable channels. They often are quite technical but then they additionally excel at commenting on general questions with a much broader appeal and relevance. Such a video from LTT with broad relevance today came to my attention and I believe you should watch this 10 minute video.

Not only does it speak about what I tell my customers for many years, that is "DO NOT USE NORTON", anything from Norton! 

This video tells the whole background about why Norton's offer to "mine" on your behalf for one of the new digital currencies seems to be IMHO at least suspicious or even outright criminal.

I hope you'll enjoy the video. And as usual I welcome any questions you might have, preferably by email.

Stay safe.

 

Monday, November 1, 2021

Windows 11 - YES or NO?

Today I have been asked the first time by a customer the question that now became the title of this post.

My personal opinion clearly is NO!

But don't just believe me. 

AskWoody is IMHO one of the very best sources of information about Windows and they have just posted their take on this question. 

The free edition of their newsletter can be read here.

Scroll down a bit until you find the title beginning with
"Most corporate PCs can’t install Windows 11..."

To make it easier for you I will quote their conclusion verbatim,  that is as it was published.

Unless you have a specific need, Win11 isn’t a must-have upgrade

As I wrote in my October 18 column, there are few, if any, compelling new features in Win11 for most people, aside from cosmetic changes. The exception is if you have an application that demands a particular TPM 2.0 form of encryption. All US government agencies, for example, are required to use the 256-bit SHA-2 algorithm that TPM 2.0 supports. (The older TPM 1.2 chip supports the flawed 160-bit SHA-1 algorithm).

For everyone else, Windows 10 remains a stable and productive platform that will get updates for at least the next four years. That’s plenty of time for you to decide whether you really need Win11 — or you’d rather skip it until Windows 12 arrives.

For the moment, experts are recommending that most people stay on Win10. That includes reviewers from PC World (“You shouldn’t upgrade to Windows 11 yet”), Forbes (“Don’t rush to take that free upgrade”), Tom’s Guide (“I wouldn’t upgrade to Windows 11 yet”), and on and on.

For details on the 30-million machine study, see Lansweeper’s summary.

Did you get it? Windows 11 is NOT a "must have" upgrade.

With all the recent back and forth about this and considering Microsoft's history with these things I definitely will stay away from Windows 11!

Should Microsoft ask you any questions about Windows 11 PLEASE read the question(s) again and make sure that you answer NOT to upgrade to Windows 11!

Windows 10 is quite reliable and will be supported until October 2024!

If you have your computer now for at lest two years it will by then be old enough to think about a new machine anyway.

Any other concerns or question(s)? As always, feel free to ask; email preferred.

Stay safe.


Saturday, February 13, 2021

Suppressed Information

Update  2021-05-18    Added video interview Dr. Peter McCullough
                                     from Dr. Mercola's  web site  If this gets 'banned' please privately contact Dorie or me
Update  2021-05-11   Added book "Rapid Virus Recovery" by Dr. Thomas E. Levy
                                     Available for FREE to download here
Update  2021-04-06   Added video interview Dr. Lee Merritt
                                     from Dr. Dave Janda's  blog                 
Update  2021-03-12  Added interview Dr. Tenpenny
                                    If this gets 'banned' contact Dorie or me privately please
Update 2021-03-20   Quote Dr. Kendrick, a general practitioner in Cheshire, England
Update 2021-02-12:  Added Dr. Mercola's videos that were CENSORED
                                    by Google, YouTube (and Facebook?)

Hello all;

I apologize for harassing you with unsolicited information about what I consider to be the individually most important issue of the current times.

I want to stress that I am not an "anti-vaxxer" and not anti science! 

I am against being lied to by a fear driven coalition of so called "experts" and cooperating media companies that give air time only to those who follow the official narrative. There is no discussion of pro and cons.

I am AGAINST all of us made into lab rats for large scale testing of an experimental concoction of drugs that work in totally novel ways.

Currently we are being "coaxed", that is fear mongered, into asking for the so called "Covid-19 vaccine". Alone the fact that medically
this is not a vaccine (there are time proven medical and legal definitions for that) makes me pay even more attention.

Here are a few links to videos, articles and a book with (much) more detailed information: 

I'll leave it at that, there is so much more...

Please let me add a tidbit of my personal beliefs: 

The more viciously someone gets attacked by "the establishment", in human history as I know it, this usually shows that the establishment feels threatened. And it shows me that this someone may be on to something. 

I react by paying attention to what this someone has to say.

I'd be happy to answer questions if you have any.

Regards
Eike


Tuesday, February 9, 2021

MY Political Opinion - if you don't like it don't read it

 

Something to Consider
By E.P. Unum
February 9, 2021                
 
Before reviewing this essay, you may find these numbers interesting:
As reported by the CDC ... here are the total number of US deaths by year and the change from the previous year
 
>        Year 2017  2,818,503 Americans died
 
>      Year 2018: 2,839,205 deaths (20,702 more than the previous year 2017)
 
>       Year 2019: 2,855,000 deaths (16,300 more than the previous year 2018)
 
> Year of the pandemic ...2020..,.there were 2,913,144 deaths (57,641 more than the previous year 2019)
 
Let this sink in for a minute. There were zero deaths from Covid-19 reported during 2018 and 2019… and the jump from 2019 to 2020 was only 57,641? 

But, We have been told COVID-19 is responsible for 440,000 + deaths.

Shouldn't the calendar year 2020 number be a hell of a lot higher?  Hold that thought for a minute….
 
So the question now becomes: how many people died FROM COVID and how many died (of other causes) WITH COVID? 

Perhaps there is a more reasonable explanation such as the possibility that the CDC is not finished reporting the final tabulations of the number of deaths through 2020. That, of course, is a possibility, but this is February 2021 and clearly, if the number of deaths was 440,000 higher they surely did not all occur in November or December 2020, so why the delay?
 
More importantly, let’s consider these possibilities:
 
Perhaps the reporting of deaths by the media was intentionally misleading, a very well-orchestrated plan intended to create fear and upheaval in the middle of an election year and on the heels of an ill-advised failure to remove a sitting President of the United States based on false accusations. Or, perhaps Covid 19 was an unimaginable set of events that just fell into place with the United States front and center. Let’s dispense with this possibility straight away: Can you tell me another nation with more reported deaths than the U.S?
 
Let’s consider for a moment the following sequence of facts:
 
Covid started with messages from the CDC and the eminent and distinguished Dr. Fauci of the NIH announcing in January 2020 to the media on TV and on TV talk shows that the “U.S. had nothing to worry about” and there was “no reason to wear masks” to telling us in late February and early March of 2020 that “masks are a necessity” and “we face a real pandemic
 
Enter the media and social media platforms, democratic mayors, governors, and, most importantly, democratic members of Congress who, every day, 24/7 in concert with the mainstream media, do the following:
   
>       Scare people with a virus. Force them to wear masks and place them in quarantine. Demand that voting in the national election be handled by mail while allowing people to stand in line and shop at Home Depot, Loews, Target, Walmart, Costco. Bed Bath & Beyond, and other "BigBox" stores

>        Count the number of deaths every second of every day, in every News Headline. By the way, ninety-nine and six-tenths (99.6%) of the people who contract the virus, recover. About one to two-tenths of one percent who get the virus, die, and most all of them have other medical problems. Did you catch that? Less than 1/2 of a percent die.
   
>        Closed businesses yielded 35,000,000+ instantly unemployed. 100 years ago, in the midst of the Spanish Flu Epidemic which killed over 50 million people worldwide, businesses and schools were never shut down.
   
>        Remove entertainment and prohibit recreation, closing parks, gyms, bars, restaurants, sports. When sports are permitted, tell the limited number of people who are present at the events or who are watching at home that they should be wearing masks and refrain from cheering or shouting because that “tends to spread the virus.
     
>       No dating. No touching. Isolate people. Dehumanize them.
 
>        Close Temples and Churches. Prohibit worship. Create a vacuum and let depression, anxiety, hopelessness, and desperation set in.
 
>        Close schools from elementary through university, shut down all extra-curricular activities, and implement virtual online learning with no regard as to the impact this has on our children and how they learn, and no regard for the need for them to interact and have human contact.
   
>      Ignite hatred and civil unrest in the streets resulting in the looting of businesses, injuries, and deaths to innocent bystanders and police attempting to maintain order.
   
>      Highlight the cries to defund the police, empty the prisons because of the virus, arrest those you catch looting and causing damage, but, then immediately release them without any bail, and continue to fill the streets with criminals.
   
>        Allow Antifa and Black Lives Matter to vandalize property as if they are freedom fighters. Undermine the rule of law, condone riots, looting and attack all law enforcement,…but tell the government to order police to stand-down.
 
>        Terminate the Keystone XL Pipeline, restrict fracking and oil and gas exploration thereby eliminating America’s Energy Independence which took us decades to achieve, driving up costs to business and consumers, and immediately putting tens of thousands of Americans on unemployment lines. Then, abandon building the wall on the U.S. southern border which has effectively controlled immigration and invited thousands of migrant people from South America to assemble and illegally enter the United States…all at a time when we have tens of millions unemployed and still dealing with Covid.
 
So, the acid-test question is this: Is it possible that we are all being played by those who want to achieve power and destroy America? 

This is nothing new. We have had socialist and communist movements in our country for many years…indeed, several decades.  But the ones we have in our midst today are insidious and have been the result of decades of abdicating responsibility for our education system and ignorance of just how Marxist and Communists develop footholds inside a nation. 
 
No longer do we teach our children about American Exceptionalism and what America has meant to the world. 

No longer do we focus on American achievements in science, medicine, technology, and engineering or the arts and literature. 

Instead, it seems all that we hear is how bad America is. We allow disgusting, inflammatory research like the N.Y. Times endorsed 1619 Project to be installed as a mandatory curriculum in our elementary and high schools, and professors at our universities to substitute factual history with their personal flair for condemning America as an imperialist nation which ignores the needs of the poor in favor of the wealthy. They denigrate capitalism as the root of all evil and ignore that capitalism has been the economic system that has created the greatest individual and collective wealth and prosperity in the history of the world. 

They teach our students that socialism and communism is a preferable system because it espouses “equity for all”, but they never once mention that socialism has never worked in any country that has tried it, and that the only people who have benefitted from socialism are those at the top who achieved their wealth and power on the backs of those who produced it.
 
It is important to reflect on these immutable facts: America is a nation that was born just 245 years ago. We have been in existence for only 245 years, a pimple on the ass of an elephant to give some perspective. There are nations on this planet who have been in existence for several thousands of years, whose history dwarfs ours. Yet, in that finite period of time, we have produced the single greatest system of government based on principles of individual liberty and respect for, trust, and belief in God, the greatest economy and wealth known to man, the finest military in the world, and twice in the 20th century, we saved the world from the horrors of Fascism and the Nazi’s, rebuilding 19 countries in Europe and the entire nation of Japan in aftermath of the devastation of World War II.
 
I submit to you that what has transpired throughout 2020 is how you destroy a nation from within, and in very short order. It is a blueprint for the destruction of America and all you need to do is a quick review of the Executive Orders enacted by President Joe Biden to understand how these are weakening our nation. President Biden did not develop these edicts. It is my considered opinion that this is the work of Barack Obama, Susan Rice, Bernie Sanders, John Kerry, George Soros, and the cabal of power-hungry devotees of the Elite New World Order. 
 
Will this diabolical plan work? I guess that depends on you and me.
 
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Sunday, February 7, 2021

Adobe Flash - Finally Dead!

I get asked : What is Flash Player?

As a reply here is a quote from Wikipedia (with added emphasis):

Adobe Flash Player is computer software for content created on the Adobe Flash platform.
Flash Player is capable of viewing multimedia contents, executing rich Internet applications, and streaming audio and video.
In addition, Flash Player can run from a web browser as a browser plug-in or on supported mobile devices.

By now Flash is an outdated technology that has in the past been massively abused by malicious programmers to create virus programs.

Mostly I get above mentioned question together with remarks best characterized by this verbatim quote from a customer's email:

 As you know, Adobe will no longer service Adobe Flash Player.
What should I do?

Please click on the "Start" button in left bottom corner of your screen.


In the upcoming menu please point the cursor to "Control Panel" and then click on "Programs and Features".

You should see a list similar to this one:

The list normally is alphabetically sorted. 

Since I have un-installed Flash Player some time ago I can not show you the correct entry for Flash, sorry.

  • Please find in that list the entry for Adobe Flash Player.
  • Rest your mouse cursor on this entry, right click on the highlighted line with "Flash Player", then
  • click (that is left click!) on "Uninstall".

From now on there should be only standard questions, like for confirmation of what you just "told" the system to do or similar; all you need to do is read what the optional little windows tell you and react accordingly.

After Flash Player is uninstalled close the Control Panel window.

There is NO NEED to "replace" Flash Player in any form or shape. Please do not fall for any potential attempts to lure you with big words into downloading and installing any "replacement".

Congratulations, you just have uninstalled your first program from your computer. 

Stay safe.


Tuesday, June 23, 2020

EXCEPTION: One thing "poltical"

If you came here from Facebook then you'll find Larry Elder's video here.

Thank you for your interest.

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

New REMOTE SUPPORT program and service


For many years now I have used the Canada based company Instant Housecall and their program of the same name to give remote support to my customers.


Since a few months I can not log in to that service anymore, they do not accept my password and their password reset mechanism does not solve the problem for me. So I looked for an alternative and naturally for an alternative that would not entail cost for my customers. And I have found a solution.
As of immediately (June 1st 2020) I use a new company and their program to give remote support.

Their name is Any Desk. I install this program on all new computers and on any computer that I upgrade or work on directly.


If you want (or need) remote support all my many existing customers currently have only one option and PLEASE do this only when we speak with each other on the phone!

  • Click this link to download AnyDesk.exe.
  • When the download has finished open your Downloads folder,
  • find file AnyDesk.exe and 
  • double click this file name.
AnyDesk will open; here is what it will look like:
Start screen AnyDesk
In this example your AnyDesk address is 272 709 277.  

I will ask you for these numbers and then connect to your computer.

Trust me, it is not half as complicated as it may seem now.

Stay safe.



Friday, May 15, 2020

Backup - Pulling it All Together

Again I ran into into a question that I get asked quite often. I believe it is worth another one of the instances where I quote my email reply to the customer:  
Backup and Restore likely are for the non-technical home computer user the most misunderstood area of handling a computer. I have learned the hard way that discussing that over the phone usually is fruitless, mostly because a non-technical home computer user lacks basic background knowledge.
I am very reluctant to  advise about that area without the customer having a decent understanding of the terminology involved. Additionally a solid understanding of the different Pro and Cons of available technologies is requires.
If you want to read up about Backup/Restore than I can give you a few links to articles that expound on the basics.
  1. TechTerms' basic explanation of Backup
  2. PC Magazine's Beginner's Guide to PC-Backup
  3. How-To Geek's How to Use All of Windows 10’s Backup and Recovery Tools
And here are some of my own musings from my blog related to Backup; these links are  in no particular order!
I trust that you will find or take the time to digest all this reading. I will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
It may happen that you run into problems with single terms or technical words; please do an internet search yourself before you ask me, I would only have to send you links to Wikipedia that you easily can find yourself...
I know, all this may sound like I try to avoid a direct answer to your suggestion but, sorry, you will have to "do your homework".
After reading through above text I have to add one more article to the first group of links:
  • How-To Geek's What's the Best Way to Back Up My Computer?
    IMHO  this is one of the best articles about backups that I ever have read!

    My experience shows that on-line backups to remote servers are often VERY time consuming; UPload speed for data from your computer to a remote server is generally MUCH slower than download speed from the same server!

For the average home computer user who is not a computer geek and does not plan for his house burning down my recommendations are

Re. SSDs:
Whether you  use an old fashioned HDD for backups or an SSD, you need a drive with USB 3 connection. USB 3 is much faster than USB 2. 
  • If your current computer does not have USB 3 then your next computer will for sure.
  • Laptops can generally not be upgraded from USB 2 to USB 3.
  • Desktop computers generally can be upgraded to USB 3 for reasonably low cost.
Re. Macrium Reflect:
Even if you upgrade to the paid version of the program I want to remind you that I DO NOT get any kickbacks or any other hidden compensation!

Well, that was it for today. Stay safe, computer and health wise.

Sunday, April 19, 2020

New Computer?

As to be expected the number 1 question I get asked most often is something in the veins of
      If I buy a new computer what should I look for?
Here is my reply, verbatim and as I have saved it as a template:
Hi xxx,
Thanks for asking.
It may be best to look for a new computer during sales events. For computers I recommend to look at Newegg.com or Amazon.com. Both definitely have a MUCH larger selection than any brick-and-mortar store can possibly offer.
Any new computer IMHO should go through my Set-Up job to be safe and protected on the Internet and to be free of unwanted, unneeded and sometimes outright malicious programs.

Here are some of the important technical details to currently look for:
  • 8GB or more of RAM (main memory)
  • Windows 10 Professional or Windows 10 Home
    (Pro is in some aspects more flexible than Home)
  • Buy only a computer(s) with a SSD! SSDs are MUCH faster than HDDs!
    Storage capacity of the SSD is okay if it is about three to four times of the
    amount of space currently used on your C: drive.
    Classic HDDs are in many cheap offers but it's clearly an outdated technology.
Currently I have the best experiences with computers from Dell and/or HP. And here are two warnings on what NOT to do:
  • Do NOT buy any additional warranties or similar!
  • Do NOT buy Microsoft Office!
    MS really sells you a subscription with yearly payments; good for MS but bad for you!
Feel free to call me at xxx-yyy-zzzz with any questions you may have.
That's it.
Stay safe.

Monday, April 6, 2020

Amazon Prime member? WARNING!


I have an Amazon account AND an Amazon Prime membership.
I received an email and I want to show it in a screen shot:


On first glance nothing really alarming, right?
BUT:
The sender email address (labeled From:) looks to me totally wacky and the Reply-To address (labeled To:) IMHO is equally unlikely.
The warning bells in my mind started to ring loud and clear.
 
My wife and I use the same Amazon account all the time and thus I know that the payment method is correct and that it works.

Even saving the attached PDF document to my computer and then scanning it with Malwarebytes did not show any alarms or warnings.

So I opened the file in my PDF reader to check it out in more detail.

The PDF document contains a link and a BIG button to supposedly go to Amazon's account and payment method web page.

BUT this is what the link and the button actually would have sent my web browser to:
https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fam1zn-updtaeinfmtaonsupdtee-verifyconfimationss76757855.com%2F%3Fsigninn-&t=NmVmZTU1YjdlNTBkODkzYjc0NTg1NzM0MTI2YWNhNWJkOGNiZGRjZSxjYTVkNGQyNzY5ZjI4OGQ2OGFiZjQ2ZDJmOTg3NjZlMTZkNTI5M2Y3

What a crazy nightmare - and for me a clear indicator that something was VERY WRONG!

I went to Amazon.com and checked in my account settings and voila, my Prime membership is paid for until September and the payment information is correct.

Naturally I will report this to Amazon.

MY conclusion as far it concerns you? 
 
Be super vigilant, never trust an email and do NOT be complacent!

Yes, IMHO it is complacent to "just click" on the big button or the link in the PDF file rather than verifying the claim made in the PDF file independent of the email and it's attachment!

Stay safe, stay vigilant and pay attention to the details!

Thursday, March 5, 2020

About Trackers


General information about Trackers and Tracking Cookies:

The Guardian has some interesting reading about trackers and tracking cookies.

Yes, the Guardian article is from 2012 and these technologies have evolved and become more sinister and secretive.

HowToGeek.com is a very reliable web site with all sorts of good how-to advice. Their article from 2016 The Many Ways Websites Track You Online is worth your time.

But if you want a shortcut without the background knowledge then go and install in your Firefox web browser the extension named DuckDuckGo Privacy Essentials.

Here are four more articles from well reputed sources about this extension:

Stay safe!


Sunday, January 19, 2020

Windows 7 - RIP

As you surely can imagine recently I have quite often gotten the question  
What should I get if I buy a new computer?
Here is verbatim the reply that I sent to all such requests if the question came via email:
Thanks for asking.

It may be best to look for a new computer during special sales events.

For computers I recommend to look at Newegg.com or Amazon.com. Both definitely have a MUCH larger selection than any brick-and-mortar store can possibly offer.


Any new computer IMHO should go through my Set-Up job to be safe and protected on the Internet and to be free of unwanted, unneeded and sometimes outright malicious programs.

Here are some of the IMHO important technical details to currently look for:

  • 8GB or more of RAM (main memory)

  • Windows 10 Professional or Windows 10 Home
    (Pro is in some technical settings more flexible than Home)
  • Buy only a computer(s) with a SSD! SSDs are MUCH faster than HDDs!
    Storage capacity of the SSD is okay if it is about three to four times of the
    amount of space currently used on your C: drive or larger.

    Classic HDDs are in many cheap offers but it's clearly an outdated technology.
Currently I have the best experiences with computers from Dell and/or HP. And here are two warnings on what NOT to do:

  • If you are looking at new machines do NOT buy any additional warranties or similar!
  • Do NOT buy Microsoft Office!
    MS sells you a subscription with yearly payments; good for MS but bad for you!
Feel free to contact me directly with any questions you may have.

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

PuPs - Again and What are they?

Potentially
unwanted
Program

That exactly is what PuPs are. Now that formulation with "potentially" is a protection against frivolous law suits; every PuP does something, in the opinion of it's author definitely something positive and useful. The word potential protects everybody who has to or wants to name these programs from lawsuits.

In my opinion EVERY PuP out there is outright malware and it is sad that existing laws and court decisions force us to use the word potential at all.

I happened to run across a good article (IMHO at least) about PuPs. You can find it here.  Yes, it's three years old and I believe I have already linked to it in an earlier article. I hope you don't mind to get the suggestion to refresh your memory.

The article I linked to in the previous paragraph refers to an even older article about one of the major sources of PuPs on our computers, the so called Download Portals.
IMHO a refresher about this might be recommended as well.

Stay safe.


Sunday, November 4, 2018

The UGLY underbelly of the End User License Agreement


All of us - well, almost all of us have been conditioned to accept the so called "End User License Agreement" (EULA) for next to everything. Sometimes we agree unknowingly just by turning a new gadget ON; my classical example for that is Windows 10 with it's 12,000 words long EULA.

EVERY app on our phones,
EVERY program ever installed on our computers,
EVERY so called "smart" or "connected" TV in our living rooms,
EVERY supposedly "intelligent" device that recognizes "Google Hello" or is "Alexa enabled",
EVERY of the many useful things that require an Internet connection and an app on a smart phone
and many more things too numerous to list here can be used to spy on us.

Hard to believe? Please listen to this 12 minutes long TED talk, maybe it will change your view.

Stay safe!