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:

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.

URGENT ALERT! For users of any Apple thinghy!

Hi y'all and thanks for reading this.

If you or someone in your household has any piece of equipment from Apple, like an iPhone, iPad, iPod or the like then

 this is for you!

Since iPhones a.s.o. are so common nowadays the crooks are targeting you. Look at the email I just got in a partial screen shot of the Thunderbird screen:

 

I have marked the give-away items with colored rectangles as follows:

Blue: I don't have an Apple account! Ha, ha, ha.

Purple: The email does not even come from Apple!

Green: My cursor pointing to the "Verify..." button.

Red: The URL (web site address) that the "Verify..." button actually is pointing to; it has NOTHING AT ALL to do with Apple.

To be addressed as "Dear ejheinze@att.net" is so unprofessional this alone would be reason enough to click on the Delete button!

The item in the red rectangle I see only because I told my email program to show this and because the cursor is on the "Verify..." button. I believe none of this needs further clarification. Should you have any questions please feel free to ask me, preferably in an email.

A general remark: 

If the program you use to read your emails
does not show you any of the information in blue, purple and red
then you potentially endanger your computer!

Any Questions? Please feel free to ask me, preferably in an email. 

Stay safe.

WOT and the darned Purists at Mozilla

WOT vanished from many of my customers Firefox web browsers. I got some questions about that so here is my diatribe.

Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox web browser, is a European organization and over there they have a MUCH more narrow view of privacy issues. That is a double-edged sword.

WOT has a few month ago modified their end user license agreement to conform more closely to what the add-on all can do. No surprise to me that they collect some information on the things you search for and where you then click on. Google does that for years and nobody gives a hoot.

WOT finally made it public and Google and Mozilla went ballistic pulling the WOT extension (add-on) from their web sites. I am pretty livid but they don't listen to you or me.

WOT in the meantime has changed the wording of their end user license agreement and you again can get and run WOT in Goggle Chrome.

The Europeans don't seem to see the value of WOT for the normal non-geek end user and remain stubbornly on their negative stance towards WOT. 

And Mozilla even tricks people into disabling or removing WOT - despite the fact that there is no even remotely similar functionality available anywhere else.

It is a shame but I have to tell my customers that they have to use Google Chrome for their web searches if they want the advantages of WOT, naturally with WOT and a good Ad-Blocker installed. These get installed from within the web browser, they are extensions.


Currently IMHO only Adblock Plus from adblockplus.org and uBlock Origin qualify as "good" ad-blockers.


Supposedly WOT and Mozilla are working on a resolution but that already takes many months.

If you have an affected computer and on the desktop is a folder named "Old Firefox Data" I may be able to resurrect WOT; but that definitely would be a trial and error thing that I can not guarantee. But at least I can do it remotely. 

Stay safe.

How I Transfer Files From An Old To A New Computer

As long as the "old" computer is basically still working transferring all your user files (documents, pictures, music and videos) is no issue at all as long as they are stored in Windows' standard locations.

After the new computer is up and running I take the disk drive physically out of the old machine, attach it externally to the new machine and copy the files directly across to the new computer.

This way there is only one copy process which saves time compared to copying via an external drive which requires copying the same data twice.

After copying the files to the new machine I will urge you to safely keep the disk drive from the old computer for at least a year as an insurance against data loss.

Imagine you need a certain file after several months, you know the name of the file but it just is not where you thought it should be. It is on the old disk drive because that is the only place files could have gotten stored on the old machine; so that is where we have to search for it.

I hope that clears eventual confusion.

Stay safe.

Still on Yahoo? Time to RUN!

Are you still using Yahoo! ® ?

It is high time you run, fast, far and NOW!

Just read this article by Rob Schifren. He is the driving force and creator of TechSupportAlert.com, a very long running and very reliable source of information about free software and many more things about and around computers; computers used here in the widest sense of the word, that is including Apple Mac, Android devices and much more.

From the many contacts with my customers I have an idea about how many people re-use the same password on several (or all) web sites.

PLEASE heed the warning and AT LEAST establish a new STRONG password for your Yahoo account.

IMHO it would be better if you switched to a different service altogether. If you have and use a Yahoo email account I recommend to switch to Gmail.

Gmail can automatically import emails from Yahoo if you want to give your email contacts time to adapt to your new email address.

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

Stay safe.

NO to Google Chrome - Here is Why

Here is a quote from this article on The Register:

Chrome leads the browser pack with 504 reported vulnerabilities followed by Internet Explorer with 289 and Firefox with 171. Some 1035 flaws were reported across all browsers including Opera and Safari, up from 728 in 2013.

"Reported vulnerabilities" are in layman's terms known weaknesses in the program code of the web browser that have been or could eventually be used to hack through a given web browser into computers.

Why would a person want to willingly live with more risks than less?

This seems to me to be a good time to talk about the most common argument for Google Chrome, at least as far as I hear from my customers. The argument is "Yeah, but Chrome is faster". Mostly I get that from younger people or grandparents who quote family members or friends thereof.

That argument is "true" only to a laughably small effect that IMHO is totally irrelevant.

Every web page is made up of often numerous files; these files have to be transferred from the server computer of that web page into our computer. The time this transfer takes is solely dictated by the real life speed and performance of our Internet connection. Our computer and the web browser have next to no influence on that transfer.

Only after all the files that comprise the web page are on our computer the web browser can begin to build the visible web page on the screen. Yes, in doing this Google Chrome is faster than other browsers but this is maybe 10% of the total time it takes from us clicking on a link to the web page appearing on our screen.

Let me do the math for an extremely slow example: Assumed it takes 10 seconds from click to visible page (which is quite long!). 90% of this time is waiting for the transfer of the file(s), that is 9 out of 10 seconds; only 10% (equals 1 second) is what the browser takes to actually do it's job of giving us something to look at. Even if Google Chrome were 20% faster than another browser that would amount to being 0.2 seconds faster over all. That difference is well below what humans can perceive!

My point is: "Faster" is by no means "better"!

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

Stay safe.

Yahoo Users, it's Time to Run for the Hills

For years I have told my clients to stay away from Yahoo as far as possible. Those with Yahoo email accounts I have told to to switch their email provider.

Yes, it is a BIG hassle to do that but now it seems to be imperative to do it - finally.

Yahoo has been majorly hacked!

In 2014 already and they have kept it a secret until recently!

Reported numbers of compromised accounts vary from 500 thousand to one billion affected users but that is irrelevant; relevant is that practically all sensitive information got copied off by miscreants. User names, passwords, date-of-birth, SSNs, security questions and the answers, phone numbers, "real names", address information and the list goes on...

In California the first class action lawsuit against Yahoo has been filed and many more are expected to follow all over the nation.

What to do?

First change your Yahoo password, make the new one at least 12 characters long. Read this article from 2011(!) and this one from 2013(!) on my blog for more information.

More info on Passwords is in these articles:
Passwords that are NOT a password
Passwords the Latest

You have a Yahoo email account or use other Yahoo services (like Yahoo Financials!) and you still are "on the fence"? I can't help you, actually nobody can help you but yourself.

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

Stay safe.

"Force Feeding" Windows 10

"Force Feeding" are the only words adequate to describe what Microsoft is doing right now! My email inbox is overflowing with complaints and cries for help. Microsoft seems to be really desperate, it must not be going as well as they had hoped.

After the upgrade to Windows 10 (not update) you have 4 weeks to revert to your previous system. This process has so far worked without a hitch for those of my customers who reverted.

1. Click the Start button
2. Click on Settings (on a few systems it is PC Settings)
3. Click on Update & security
4. In the left side bar click on Recovery
5. Find the entry Go back to Windows x (x is 7 or 8 depending on what your previous system was) and click on it

Depending on the speed of your computer it will work for anything between 30 and 90 minutes. After you have reverted to your previous version of Windows Microsoft will again begin to permanently nag you to upgrade to Win 10. This nagging can be reliably turned off!

Microsoft has since about November 2015 been busy to put some of the telemetry of Windows 10 into Windows 7 and Windows 8 systems; this happens in addition to forcing upgrades to Windows 10. That means that Win 7 and 8 systems now contain some of what I call Windows 10 spying on me/us and IMHO that should to be turned off!!

My recommendation is to turn all this junk off and luckily since about February 2016 I know of a dependable piece of free software that allows everybody to do just that on their systems whether it is a Windows 7, 8 or 10 computer!. See this article for more details.


If after the upgrade any icons or programs are missing or if you rather have me install SD Anti Beacon I can do all that via remote support. For remote support please call one of the coming Monday through Thursday evenings between 6PM and 8PM. If I am already at home I want to connect remotely to your computer. If I can not answer on your first attempt please assume that I am already helping somebody else and keep trying every 10 or 15 minutes.

If I have set up or worked on your computer during the last three years you should be set for remote support; if you have an icon labeled either "Teamviewer ..."  or "EJH Remote Support" then all is prepared. If you do not find either of these icons please call anyway, I can walk you on the phone thru the steps to get the remote support program going. Alternatively you can prepare for remote support as described here.

Please have your computer up and running; if your computer is a notebook (or laptop) computer then please have the power supply connected and plugged into a working power outlet.

Stay safe!

2016-04-07 WBKV Talking Points

This is the first time ever in 12 years of regular radio shows that I do not have a set agenda for the 15 minutes ahead of us.

Listeners, please call in with ANY kind of question you may have around your PC and MS Windows.

Other than that only the standards;

    - Use common sense!
    - Read and think(!) before you click.

    - Update ALL programs you use.

   - Ransomware.

    - Backup your data and your system!

And stay safe.

Spybot Anti Beacon - A Must Have?

If privacy of your data and files is to you as important as it is for me than the answer to the title question on Windows 7 and above is YES, clear and loud.

Let me explain: SpyBot Anti Beacon is a relatively new utility that can reliably turn off most of Windows 10's unwelcome behavior. Many others besides myself think of as being spied at. Whether Micro$oft calls this telemetry or whatever, I feel spied at.

If you want to know why I call Windows 10 a masterpiece of data collection and judge it's telemetry as for me unwanted spying please read this article originally written in October 2012 after Windows 8 was available. And I repeated the IMHO main reason in the context of Windows 10 quite recently.

If you want to try SB Anti Beacon (SBAB) please keep in mind this is professionally made but it is a FREE program; free as in free beer, that is you do not have to pay for it. This has consequences; not everything is as automatic as you might have come to expect from good programs. The main program window has four tabs for four different functions or info screens. I recommend to read the Frequently Asked Questions in tab #4 but will shortly describe what I do in tabs #1 and #2 (usage instructions).

In tab #1 I want ALL the entries to be green, that is all the spying turned off. So I just click the Immunize button at the bottom of the page.

In tab #2 I want as well all entries to be turned off but the page is differently organized. For every entry I have to click on the Apply button immediately above the entry. And especially on laptops and other (mainly smaller) wide screens I have to realize that in tab #2 the program windows has a scroll bar! I need to use it to uncover the last entry or entries on that tab's page.

Here are some visual examples from the only Windows 10 system I currently have available which happens to be a laptop:

Tab #1 BEFORE and AFTER "Immunize"

Tab #2 BEFORE and AFTER "Apply"

Please see that the scroll bar in the pictures of tab #2 is in a different positions.

Just an hour ago I made an interesting observation: After installing updates from Windows Update I checked the Win 7 system I write this on and there was one new telemetry entry in each of the tabs. That shows that Micro$oft at least for now will keep bringing telemetry from Windows 10 back to Windows 7 and 8!

That is why I say to you:  If you are willing to use SpyBot's Anti Beacon and to take on this additional check after EVERY update from Micro$oft (whether the updates were automatically applied or you checked and installed them manually) then you can rest fairly assured that Micro$oft will not collect data from your computer and about your computing habits.

As usual, stay safe.

2016-03-24 WBKV Talking Points

Today nothing but viruses, malware and currently acute dangers.

• Ransomware (so far mainly from infectious MS-Office documents)
  Record ransom paid; 17 million US$ 
   -  -
• now infectious advertisements on BIG company web sites with 100s of millions of visitors every day:
  - -
  New York Times (nyt.com)
  AOL.com
  ESPN.com
  MSN.com (MicroSoft Network)
  NFL.com (yes, National Football League)
  TheWeatherNetwork.com
  TheHill.com
  Yahoo.com  and many more.

I feel like a prayer wheel:
   If you see advertisements in your web browser your computer is at risk!

Firefox web browser with Adblock Plus and WOT are the browser protections you should use!

No, not Goggle Chrome, Safari or Edge or Internet Explorer!

2016-03-10 WBKV Talking Points

Part 2: Stay Safe on the Internet

Be aware that trustworthy companies, especially Microsoft and it’s affiliates, will never contact you because of a supposed technical problem of any kind.

The following will definitely be scams:

• Phone calls
• Advertisements for technical support for any software product on search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing
• Pop-ups for tech support from social web sites (Facebook! or LinkedIn)
• Pop-ups for tech support that promote phone based tech; these usually require a previous malware infection or an unsafe web browser.

Scam avoidance 101:

1. Never completely trust someone you don’t know who called you.
   Listen to them, if you like.
   
2. Ask questions, if you feel like it, but NEVER EVER give them access to your PC
   
3. NEVER EVER give them any payment information.
   
4. Tell them that you will let your local tech look into it (even if you don’t have one).
   
5. If the caller hangs up – good for you.
   
6. If he/she gets impolite or abusive it’s your time to hang up!

Afraid of a real problem? Do the research yourself or contact a trusted tech support person.

Chances are there’s nothing to see at all.

If you have handed over payment information, you’ve just given that information to a complete stranger. Immediately put your credit card or payment provider on fraud alert. If you allowed the scammer to access your computer things can get ugly. Do NOT use the computer; you usually have no idea what they did. You need a trusted technician to check out your machine.

This IS a common scam right now and the best defense is to not fall for it in the first place.

Another currently growing threat: MS-Word, Excel or Powerpoint files sent as attachments! When these files are opened you mostly see the request “... to turn protection on ...” or similar tricks. Don’t do it, don't believe it, it's a trick!  Many very nasty ransomware viruses use this trick! If you do not have a current backup YOU PAY! You either pay the crooks to get your files back and/or a trusted technician to re-build all the software on your computer.  And if you don't have install disks for Windows  - b.t.w. they do NOT come with computers any longer - you have even more problems.

Stay safe.

Wrong, Every Step She Took Wrong

Original text of email I got from a long ago customer:

Recently our Microsoft Essentials "little house"  has been erratic in its stability.  We have done full scans and quick scans with it staying green for a short period of time changing to orange and then eventually to red.

I googled this question and received an answer that Microsoft is not updating this since last year - so the definitions are not really up to date.  Is this true?
It was suggested that I get AVG Anti Virus which is Free.  I did do this and it  appears to be doing the job with the green circles, etc. 

On that same page there is a area where I can check to "fix performance".  It is a PC Analyzer - After doing this, the report was: many errors in various areas and they said it could be fixed for fee/one time and/or I could get a program for 1 year.  I would not need one for one year but I would like take advantage of the free analyzing of this performance.  Do you think I should do this and is AVG a good solution if indeed Microsoft has stopped updating?

... [I] realize we will have to update to windows 10 when they force us to do so.  If we do not do this will they charge us?

 And here is the original text of my reply, please judge for yourself:

Thanks for asking. If you remember I do not express myself politically correct so please brace yourself for some rough truths:

• The "little house" you refer to represents Microsoft Security Essentials which was your anti virus program until you installed AVG.
• ANY anomaly with your anti virus should have rang a LOUD alarm bell.
• If it has not updated since last year your computer potentially was not protected against common viruses.
• AVG is a program that I urge my customers to stay away from!
• It installs really crappy programs, that is how AVG (the company) makes money nowadays.
• PC Analyzer IMHO is known malware.
• I bet you that almost ALL the errors that you get shown are false messages meant to scare you into installing even more useless programs.
• Keep going with these silly suggestions and soon your computer will likely not be usable any longer.
• No, DO NOT take "advantage" of the "free" solution that you mention, it will make it only worse.

I believe I still could fix the situation and hopefully repair your computer. I guarantee that the free solution will not work to your satisfaction. 

The question about "they" ( I assume you mean Microsoft?) charging you only Microsoft can answer and they, MS, has been asked the same thing thousands of times; so far MS has only replied with marketing blah-blah; we just do not know. My personal suspicion is yes, no later than January 2020 when in MS's view Windows 7 comes to the end of it's supported lifetime.

In case my replies offended you I apologize, that was and is not my intention at all.

For my readers here: No further comment from my side; please come to your own conclusion and PLEASE, don't make similar or the same mistakes.

Stay safe.
 

2016-02-25 WBKV Talking Points

Stay Safe on the Internet

1. Always install Operating System updates
    
2. Keep your installed applications up-to-date
    
3. Do not use the same password at every site
    
4. Install and be sure to update your anti-virus software
   
   
5. Additionally install a free anti-malware scanner and use it(!) regularly
    
6. Use a firewall (the FW built-in to Windows is good enough!)
    
7. Backup your data!
    
8. Enable the display of file extensions
    
9. Do not open attachments from people you do not know (especially Word files, Locky ransomware travels in Word files! Use MS's Word and Powerpoint viewers to check files)
    
10. Delete emails that say you won a contest or a stranger asking for assistance with their inheritance or money transfer
     
11. Watch out for online and phone support scams
     
12. Ignore and close web pop ups saying your computer is infected or has a problem (use ALT+F4)
     
13. Ignore and close web pop ups that pretend to be a Windows alert (use ALT+F4)
     
14. Some types of web sites are more dangerous than others
     
15. Be extra vigilant when using Peer-To-Peer Software (torrents!)
     
16. When installing software, watch for "bundled" tool bars and programs you don't want
     
17. Read the End User License Agreement (EULA) Lol, I know!  
    
     

2016-02-11 WBKV Talking Points

Today I want to talk only (or mainly) about modern malware and how it gets in our computers.

Pull up this web page and you have the detailed blueprint for today's talk.

The 10 worst offenders are (IMHO #1 is by far the worst one):

1. Download portals
2. Fake updates (e.g. Java, Adobe Flash, Yahoo!) 
3. Installer programs (mainly from download portals)
4. PuPs downloading and installing more PuPs
5. Express installation (expressway to an infected computer)
6. Custom Install abused with confusing EULAs
7. Home page and search provider changed
8. Forced install (e.g. Inbox Toolbar)
9. Other people(!) using your computer (visitors, relatives)
10. Researching PuPs; do it ONLY in a virtual machine! 

Top 10 Ways PUPs Sneak Onto Your Computer. And How To Avoid Them.

Disclaimer: I copied the title literally from this blog post.

And that is all I want to say here; this article is simply a MUST READ if you ever had PuPs installed or had to call me because everything got so slow or whatever problem you had.

95% or more of all computer problems I encounter nowadays are initially caused by a PuP! The authors of these PuPs have gotten very clever and constantly invent new tricks to dupe the unsuspecting computer user.

Only permanent vigilance, caution and attention to detail can ultimately somewhat protect us and our computers. 

Please note the use of the word "somewhat" in the previous paragraph! 

For the first time ever I will directly recommend a piece of commercial security software. 

If you want the IMHO best automatic protection against all kinds of malicious programs including PuPs then you will have to pay some money, currently just shy of $40 per year for a single computer. You find details about Emsisoft Anti-Malware here.

Another disclaimer: I am in no way at all associated with Emsisoft or any of their distributors or resellers!

If you don't want to pay that is fine, you just have to DIY (do it yourself). MSE or Defender in conjunction with Malwarebytes Free will do it just as well but you have to regularly do more yourself.

Whether you want to pay for Emsisoft Anti-Malware or not doesn't really matter, IMHO you simply HAVE TO READ this article.

 Stay safe.

10 Reasons Against Win 10 - 10 Reasons For Win 10 (plus comments)

Besides my massive reservations towards Windows 10, voiced here and here, I want to give my readers the pro and con disregarding that personal opinion.
 

The following are excerpts from an Infoworld paper published under the title “Everything you need to know about Windows 10”.

Iinfoworld has these 10 reservations against Windows 10:

1. Substantial privacy concerns regarding Windows 10. The trade-offs between privacy and what the system “needs to know” can not be simply decided as a black and white decision.
   The same is true for Windows 10's automatically attached Advertising ID.
    
2. OneDrive works different from Windows 7 and Windows 8. VERY confusing!
    
3. Media Center and DVD player missing.
    
4. No useful “universal apps”. The Windows Store is a wasteland.
    
5. Mail program and Edge browser are test versions at best. Maturing is badly needed.
    
6. Tablet Mode partially useless (MS Office is better on an iPad than on a Win 10 tablet).
    
7. The installer may determine that they (MS) are ot quite ready for your machine yet.
   Beg your pardon? Microsoft themselves seem to know that the upgrade isn't as easy peasy
   as they want us to believe!
    
8. Forced updates have already caused quite a few problems.
    
9. “If it ain't broke don't fix it”. If you are using Windows 7 properly updated and have switched away from Internet Explorer than there is hardly a reason to risk the upgrade.
    
10. WAY TOO MANY open questions!

And Infoworld has 10 reasons for an upgrade; I have taken the liberty to comment in the second line:

1. Windows 10 is the way into the future (of Windows!)
   … the way into the Brave New World of Big Brother Microsoft.
    
2. The new Start Menu is a big plus for keyboard and mouse users of Windows 8/8.1
   if they had never heard of Classic Shell (and here) which creates a menu identical to Win 7.
    
3. DirectX 12 is a BIG plus for hard core gamers
   hard core gamers know what they want and where to get it.
    
4. Some security improvements already in Win 10 and some announced
   the old game of a sparrow in the hand and a dove on the tree.
    
5. Notification Center similar to smart phones.
   those who ignore notifications now have a central place where they can do their ignoring.
    
6. Actually usable on touch screen units like tablets
   partially usable that is; MS Office still is better on the iPad!
    
7. Multiple desktops built-in
   power users always knew how to get that, even free as in no money.
    
8. Cortana may some day actually help you
   but when? And what does it in the meantime? Listening, recording and building a case?
    
9. Edge browser is getting better
   meaning now it is not (yet) good enough for prime time.
    
10. Navigation is easier for mouse users
    than in Win 8/8.1; only for those who could not help themselves so far.

I can only repeat what I have said many times before:

Get ALL the information, combine that with  your individual situation and then make an educated decision.

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

 For whatever reason the darned TOC (Table Of Contents) feature that I got from Google does not work any longer, sorry. And I just don't have the time to hunt down another solution; if you know one please tell me in a comment. Thank you.