Bay Geeks Computer Repair Services

February 2, 2010

Using social networks like Facebook inadvisable without proper protection

Filed under: Antivirus, Computer Advice — admin @ 8:10 am

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Growing percentage of internet users are becoming active users of social networks, represented especially by the increasingly popular Facebook. Easy sharing of personal photos and videos, keeping in touch with friends and family, instant messaging as part of the website, and a wealth of additional applications - all these features of social networks like Facebook are undoubtedly attractive. While the advantages of social networks are obvious after a short period of use, the risks resulting from them are generally disregarded by their users. Both the loss of private personal data and the possibility of malware infection are at stake.

Facebook has recently been the scene of a massive surge in fraudulent groups and social engineering. The dubious magic of these fraudulent groups lies especially in their name, promising everyone joining the group an attractive new feature. An example of such a scam is called Stalker Catcher, widespread on Facebook in many variants. The users are lured to the group on the pretext that they will see exactly who and when is visiting their personal profile. The alleged instructions for feature activation result in nothing more and nothing less than sending group invitation to all contacts of the victim. Due to privacy protection, Facebook does not allow tracking of browsing profiles, neither as a standard feature, nor as a possible feature of additional applications.

The numbers of users, who voluntarily join fraudulent groups and send invitations to all their contacts, are strikingly high. Due to this carelessness, people behind the scams are easily gaining large databases of contacts. These databases can be later sold to other cybercriminals, and used for sending spam or for further phishing scams. Some of the fraudulent groups explicitly invite the users to install a certain application, which is even more dangerous. The risk of malware infection should never be underestimated.

For safer use of Facebook, users should follow two basic principles. First, do not trust ostentatious promises, included in a title of a group. Before joining a group, it is good to consider, how realistic the promises are and whether they are worth one’s attention at all. Second, use regularly updated antivirus and antispyware software. In the worst case of accidental installing of fraudulent software, the security software is there to stop the process.

Check out Aviras’ Free Anti-Virus Program and see our instructions on how to configure it for proper use!

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December 14, 2009

What kind of computer should I get?

Filed under: Computer Advice, General — Alden @ 12:58 pm

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The average life expectancy of a desktop is 3-5 years and a laptop is 2-3. Like cars or anything else in this day and age, the manufacturers are engineering obsolescence aka planned obsolescence. It doesn’t make sense for a car manufacturer to make a car that lasts for 10-20 years when they can sell 2-5 cars or more in that same time. The same thing carries over to the computer world.

If your computers are within those ranges or beyond (2-3 yrs for laptops or 3-5 yrs for desktops)… my advice is to get a new computer rather than fixing it up. We can certainly still optimize and upgrade the older computers… but the new computers and software are being developed in such a way that the older computers won’t hold their own against the new software that requires more powerful machines than ever. The truth is you probably won’t be happy with an older computer that tries to run today’s software that was written for more powerful machines.

This advice sounds counter-intuitive to me, being in an industry that profits from fixing computers… it doesn’t do me any good to advise you to buy new - but here I am! The reality is that we’ve built a solid business upon taking care of the folks who take care of us… our clients. I believe that there will be enough genuine issues out there to keep us busy that we’d rather provide real, honest advice to you… our clients. This advice is the same advice I’ve provided to my immediate/extended family and friends and the advice I take personally when looking for a new computer.

So… What kind of computer should I buy?

As for brands… it doesn’t really matter what name is painted on the side of a box as long as the components (hardware) used inside are of a good quality and the specifications meet your needs. We probably see less Toshiba, Sony, Lenovo laptops than the other brands… but that could be more of a function of market penetration/share than a function of quality.

Apple/Macs still have their own issues and are generally three times the price of a Windows PC. They do have viruses and have had issues with multi-tasking (running multiple windows - excel, email, surfing while listening to music/watching movies, downloading etc… all at the same time).

Acer is the second largest computer manufacturer in the world (huge in China). HP is # one and Dell is # three. They are generally not including the restore disks anymore, so be sure you create one as soon as you get the computer (before you add software or make any changes).

As for working on computers, Dells have always been great and are a personal favorite. You can get a great quality Dell pretty much anywhere these days. Dell makes High Quality, Low Quality and Mediocre… I’d personally stay away from the low and high end computers and go with a medium priced computer with the right specifications for my needs. I’d shoot for $500-$700 for a computer’s price point.

As for the components… I’d research what kind of processor, ram, hard drive, power supply, motherboard and video cards are going into the machines and search for reviews on the specific types. Any common components will have proponents and opposition online… so be sure to consider the source and read with a grain of salt in mind.

The newer computers come with dual and quad core processors. This means there are effectively multiple processors to split up the work load which results in significant performance gains. Once you try a dual/quad core… you’ll never go back to a single core if you can help it.

Speaking of Processors, you’ll now have a choice between a 32 bit processor and a 64 bit processor. Be sure your operating system will match the processor (Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit etc…).

32 bit processors cannot use more than 3 GB of ram. If you get a 32 bit computer with 4 or more) GB of ram, you’ll only be able to use 3 GB (effectively wasting a GB of ram)!

Most folks will do fine with 3 GB of ram, but more is usually better. Once you get to 6 GB, it doesn’t make much more sense to go beyond that for the average home/business user unless you’re doing some really resource intensive work (like video editing).

The basic requirements I’d look for in a home or business computer would be similar and as follows:

64 bit Operating System
64 bit Multi-Core Processor (dual/quad)
>3GB of Ram (more is better to a point 4-6 GB is plenty)
>160-250 GB of Hard Drive Space (more is often better for storing photos/movies etc…)

Now that’s not going to work for everyone… but I’d say that this would be great for anyone who:

Surfs the net
Shops online
Banks online
Edits Photos
Saves Photos
Creates Word/Excel/Office Documents
Checks Emails
Downloads Music

What about Gaming or Watching Movies Online?

If you’re into Gaming or Watching Movies Online… I’d say the only other major requirement I’d look at (outside of specific gaming requirements) is a Graphic (Video) Card that’s compatible with the games desired to be played. Some video/graphic cards require a Video card with 512 MB of Ram built right in. This helps lighten the load on your processor and other ram and creates a better experience for gaming. This can help if the games or movies are spotty, pause often then speed up or just get plain choppy. There are several other reasons this stuff can happen but they’re outside of the scope of this article so please call for help if that’s bothering you!

Be sure that any specialty software you require is going to work and double check your licensing requirements to be sure you’re remaining compliant and legal at all times.

We hope this list helps make your holiday shopping a little easier and hope you all enjoy this season as much as we do!

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Is it game over for Microsoft on consumer front?

Filed under: microsoft — admin @ 9:19 am

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With Microsoft’s Windows Mobile unit having run in slow motion for the past several years, it doesn’t surprise me that there are calls for the company to get out of the phone business.

The more interesting question raised in this New York Times blog, to me, is whether Microsoft flat out just doesn’t get the consumer.

That, to me, is a much broader issue for Microsoft, given the fact that more and more parts of computing–even enterprise software–are taking their lead from consumer trends–think Facebook, Gmail and Twitter.

Microsoft certainly has its challenges on this front, and no business illustrates those challenges more clearly than the phone business, where Microsoft has squandered an early position in smartphones and now faces a massive task to catch up to Apple, Research In Motion, and even upstart Google, which has not been at the game nearly as long.

Luckily for Redmond, I don’t think it is that they don’t get the consumer at all. Products like Surface and Windows 7 and Zune HD show that Microsoft is thinking about the consumer experience and does have some sense of what appeals to the average user.

So it’s not that Microsoft totally doesn’t get the consumer. Rather, I would argue, the consumer it understands best is the nerd, as opposed to the mainstream user. That’s why, from my way of thinking, its products tend to start as niche products for gearheads and work their way toward the average consumer.

And Microsoft’s nerd focus isn’t always a bad thing, particularly in the enterprise where it is nerds who tend to be making the decision. Windows has fared pretty well against the Mac, although the PC’s lower cost also has a hand in that.

What’s happened on the mobile side, though, shows that the focus of power is shifting. It’s only a matter of time before similar trends more deeply affect the corporate desktop, whether it is e-mail, collaboration, or social networking.

The consumer business also represents a huge opportunity on its own for Microsoft. When it comes to connected entertainment, for example, Microsoft has what should be a big advantage. Because of its size and breadth, Microsoft’s software powers multiple living room devices (Xbox, Windows Media Center, and Mediaroom digital TV) as well as devices that delver media onto phones, cars, and other portable devices.

And of course, a huge part of the battle has moved off of the PC or any single device and onto the Internet. That explains Microsoft’s huge investment in Bing, but also its other online moves, including offering Office via the browser, and projects like Live Mesh that aim to bring together our myriad gadgets.

There is still a huge win to be had for the first company to allow people access to their media seamlessly in all these places. The best experience right now, I would argue, is taking one’s iPod or iPhone with them into all of these different locations. That’s a good experience, but not as good as being able to buy content once and have it automatically show up, on-demand in all of these places.

The company has shown glimmers of hope in some areas, though clearly there is more change that needs to happen. Its new retail stores, though similar to Apple, show Microsoft knowing how to highlight its coolest side. There are more products coming out with memorable names like Silverlight and fewer with mouthfuls like Windows XP 64-bit Edition for 64-bit Extended Systems.

There are pockets of understanding, particularly in the entertainment unit, which is developing things like the eminently cool Project Natal. But, then, as The New York Times blog points out, there is the Windows Mobile unit where it seems the phone has been ringing for years and Microsoft has yet to answer the call.

What’s your take. Is it game over? Or does Microsoft have enough quarters in its pockets to learn how to play the table after all?

One analyst says it is time for Microsoft to get out of the phone business, saying it is just not in the company’s DNA. Is that true for the company’s larger consumer effort?

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Apple delays iMac orders as reports of display issues rise

Filed under: General, apple — admin @ 9:16 am

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Apple has reportedly delayed shipments of its 27-inch iMac model to resellers as reports of screen flickering issues have grown.

Apple authorized resellers have reported delays in shipments of new 27-inch iMac models due to reports of display problems. Reports of flickering screens and yellow-tinged displays have become more common around the Internet, so much so that a Web site has been created to catalog reports of issues from users.

According to the Apple iMac (Fall 2009) Issues blog, out of 678 respondents, nearly half have had problems with flickering displays. The author does note that the numbers are part of an “unscientific survey” and should not be considered representative of all iMacs sold.

The blog also reports that Apple resellers have been told of delays of 2 weeks, allegedly in order to give Apple time to replace the graphics cards on the 27-inch iMacs. The iMac model in question comes in either dual-core or quad-core formats and contain the AMD ATI Radeon HD 4670 or 4850 model graphics cards.

Computerworld reported that multiple U.S. resellers report delays of anywhere from five days to two months.

AppleInsider noted in late November that users were reporting issues with the 27-inch model, with some receiving dead computers and others receiving models with cracked displays. Issues of stuttering when playing flash content were also common and were fixed for some by an update in early November.

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November 19, 2009

Macs not all that for reliability

Filed under: General, apple, microsoft — admin @ 8:39 am

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A survey of 30,000 laptops has found one in three machines die within three years and netbooks do even worse, suffering 20 per cent more hardware failures than larger laptop machines.

Apple is fourth placed for reliability behind, in ascending order, Sony, Toshiba and in first place Asus. To be fair to Apple there’s not much in it - 15.6 per cent of Asus machines are expected to malfunction within three years, compared to 17.4 per cent of Apple laptops. Worst performer is HP - 25.6 per cent of its machines are expected to break within three years.

Firmly in the middle is Dell with an expected failure rate of 18.3 per cent, Lenovo with 21.5 per cent and Acer with 23.3 per cent failing within three years.

It seems for laptops, as so much else, you really do get what you pay for. If you buy a nice cheap netbook then just over a quarter, 25.1 per cent, are expected to fail in three years, compared to 20.6 per cent of entry-level lappies. Premium machines on the other hand suffer only an 18.1 per cent failure rate.

The research, from SquareTrade which flogs extended warranties, found overall 31 per cent of machines will fail within 36 months - which is worse than most consumer electronics.

The company noted that netbooks have only really been around in volume for about a year - so it will be interesting to see how their reliability performs over the longer term.

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November 16, 2009

Internet Takes Another Step Toward Being Truly “Worldwide”

Filed under: Internet — admin @ 11:45 am

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The World Wide Web is about to go global. Countries have been invited to propose internationalized domain names based on non-Roman characters and Egypt has proposed the first domain name to use the Arabic script.
The move comes less than a month after the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees the Internet’s naming and numbering systems, approved a plan to permit Web addresses in characters other than the Roman alphabet, including Arabic, Chinese, Hindi and Korean.

The first official international domain names are expected to begin appearing sometime next year.

Last month the 15-member ICANN board, meeting in Seoul, South Korea, voted unanimously to allow scripts other than Roman characters in domain names. The move came after six years of debate and technical work on the issue.

Until now domain names have been limited to the 26 characters in the Latin alphabet, A through Z, as well as the numerals 0 through 9 and the hyphen. That’s forced Internet users with no understanding of English to type in Latin characters to reach Web sites that use non-Latin scripts.

Monday ICANN launched the IDN (Internet Domain Name) ccTLD Fast Track Process through which it will accept requests from representatives of countries and territories around the world for new Internet extensions made up of non-Roman characters. Once the requests are evaluated and approved, they are expected to come online during 2010, according to a statement issued by ICANN.

“This is the biggest technical change to the Internet’s addressing system ” the Domain Name System ” in many years,” said Tina Dam, ICANN’s Senior Director of Internationalized Domain Names, in the statement. “Right now, it’s not possible to get a domain name entirely in for example Chinese characters or Arabic characters. This is about to change.”

Egypt said it is launching the first Internet domain name to use Arabic script, according to a report published by TGDaily.com. The new suffix is pronounced “masr’ which means “Egypt.”

Altogether there are about 1.5 billion people online who use languages based on non-Latin scripts.

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November 8, 2009

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 8:07 am

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Seven Improvements in Security in Windows 7
Jayesh Limaye
Nov 05 2009

Windows 7 does come with a lot of eye-candy, but the beauty is not just skin deep. This new OS has got some enhancements in the security features and here is a list.

Spanking new Action Center

You can access the various security configurations in Vista by opening Security Center in Control Panel, but Windows 7 has done away with this in favour of a new Action Center. Here, you have security configurations as well as options for administrative tasks such as Backup, Troubleshooting And Diagnostics and Windows Update - everything at one place.

UAC with better malware protection

Ever since User Account Control (UAC) introduced in Vista, people have been complaining about how finicky it is because it keeps asking for permissions. UAC was designed to provide better protection from malware. Not just standard users, it bothers even administrator accounts when you need to do something requiring admin privileges. The only solution for users was to turn it off completely, which results in exposure to potential threats.

While UAC is still very much present in Windows 7, it can now be configured by the user at four different levels, which decide how bothersome it would be. The four settings are:

Always notify when programs try to install software or make any changes to computer settings, or if you try to make changes to Windows settings (UAC completely ON).

Notify when programs make changes but not if you make changes to Windows settings (this is the default).

Notify you only when programs make changes but do not dim the desktop (turn off Secure Desktop) while the UAC prompt is displayed. (This would be preferred by most users as it is a good balance of protection and nagging UAC prompts)

Never notify you. (Not recommended, as it is the same as turning UAC completely off.)

These settings can be adjusted by means of a slider.

AppLocker - Control your applications

To prevent people from running certain applications that may pose a security threat, XP and Vista had Software Restriction Policies, which can be configured by the administrator. This was a bit difficult to use for many people and was therefore not used much. Windows 7 comes with a new feature known as AppLocker, which does exactly the same thing, but it is easier to use and is more flexible to control. AppLocker can be used with domain Group Policies or on the local machine with Local Security Policy snap-in. You can see it in the left pane of the Application Control Policies node snap-in. Please note that old Software Restriction Policies is also still supported in Windows 7.

DROPDOWN__PAGETITLE__Windows 7 security improvements __/PAGETITLE__DROPDOWN

Natively supported Biometric security

One of the best known methods of security authentication is biometrics, which includes the use of fingerprint scans, retinal scan, or other physiological features unique to the user to determine his/her identity. Windows 7 comes with built-in support for fingerprint readers. While you may point that Windows did have this feature earlier, and even Windows XP laptops came with such a feature, they did require a third party application to be installed to achieve this. In case of Windows 7, there is native support for this, so you do not need to install any driver or software. You can configure fingerprint readers in the Biometric Devices applet in the Control Panel.

Improved BitLocker

While Vista did come with BitLocker, it allowed you to encrypt only the drive on which the OS was present, and after SP1 came, it would allow you to encrypt other fixed drives as well. But in Windows 7, you can use BitLocker to encrypt even your removable drives. This is a great feature since it is the removable drives that are likely to get lost or stolen than your fixed hard drive. Therefore, an encryption of this kind is warranted, especially if there is important data on the drive.

To access BitLocker, all you need to do is open the BitLocker applet in Control Panel, pick the drive you want to encrypt and click Turn On BitLocker. Better still, you can even right-click on the drive icon in Windows Explorer and do this. The removable drive then appears in a section called BitLocker To Go.

PowerShell v2 - Powerful UNIX-like scripting

Windows PowerShell is a tool to automate tasks using cmdlets (commands that perform single tasks) and scripts made up of multiple cmdlets to perform complex and multi-step tasks. It is essentially a powerful UNIX-like command-line shell interface and scripting tool, as can be seen in the figure, and is for those with a penchant for programming. While this tool can be downloaded and run in Windows XP or Vista, it comes bundled with Windows 7. PowerShell v2, which is the newer version that comes in Windows 7, has an additional 240 new cmdlets and new APIs. It also has features such as the ability to invoke PowerShell scripts and cmdlets even on a remote computer. It also lets you manage various Group Policy security settings. PowerShell is considered very powerful because the cmdlets method requires fewer steps than using the GUI method.

DirectAccess

Another nifty new feature of Windows 7 is DirectAccess. This feature allows remote users to connect securely to their corporate networks over the internet without using a VPN. The administrator can apply Group Policy settings and manage the mobile computers or even update them whenever the mobile machines are connected to the internet. The user need not be logged in on these machines for this. Multifactor authentication with smart cards is also supported by DirectAccess and it uses IPv6 over IPsec to encrypt the traffic. This feature is available only in Windows 7 Enterprise and Windows Server 2008 R2.

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November 2, 2009

Windows 7 upgrade problems vex users

Filed under: Computer Advice, microsoft — admin @ 1:30 pm

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Microsoft’s new operating system (OS), Windows 7, has been out since a week now. Though the product had a successful launch, and the early sales appeared strong, things do not seem to be working very well for the OS.

Citing a number of reasons ranging from upgrade issues to risk of losing data, even the experts have warned that users should be careful before installing the new operating system

Much of the talk about Windows 7 now seems to revolve around problems encountered while installing the operating system. Moving to Windows 7 hasn’t been as easy for the users as it initially seemed.

Citing a number of reasons, ranging from upgrade issues to risk of losing data, even the experts have warned that users should be careful before installing the new operating system.

Josh Kaplan, president of Rescuecom, was quoted by PCWorld as saying, “From the calls we’re getting, as well as our own experience in the past with all Microsoft’s operating systems, we’re recommending that people stick with their time-tested OS and wait for the dust to settle.”

With so many complications involved, many PC users have decided to cling to the older versions, Vista’s predecessor, Windows XP.

End users voice annoyance
Majority of the users who have tried installing Windows 7 have encountered numerous problems, sparking annoyance.

On a Microsoft support forum, where users are discussing the endless reboot problem, a user named jmps stated, “I stupidly tried to updgrade my Vista 64 today. The upgrade hung with an error message with NO error code. It said it would restart and reinstall Vista. Instead it continued with the install only to fail later. Now I no longer have Vista either and am in a reboot loop. I now have to go back to the Vista that came on my machine. This is horrible. How can something so bad be released?”

Another user named MJMacinhack commented on the same forum, “I’ve got the same problem. Tried to upgrade last night, upgrade failed, reeboot, reboot, reboot…”

“Boy oh boy, this is way too much trouble than it’s worth,” stated a user named JSchneider21.

Cautiously upgrade to Windows 7
With upgrade snags and reboot problems being fervently talked about, users need to be cautious before advancing to Windows 7. The first step is to ensure that the system is ready for the upgrade and to handle the new operating system.

To check if the system is ready for Windows 7, users can download the free Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. It scans the system for potential issues related to hardware, devices, and installed programs, and also suggests what a user can do before he upgrades.

As one upgrades, it is always a good idea to backup all files.

Since there are two versions of the operating system available, 32 bit and 64 bit, users need to be cautious regarding which one to install.

The 64-bit version of Windows handles large amounts of random access memory (RAM) more effectively than a 32-bit system.

To run 32 bit version, the system must have 1 GB of memory, at least 1 gigahertz processor and around 16 GB space on hard drive. For the 64 bit version, your computer must have a 64-bit-capable processor, GB of memory, and 20 GB of hard drive space.

In case some software is found incompatible to run on Windows 7, Microsoft has created Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode. This allows users to run many older XP applications in Windows 7.

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October 29, 2009

Windows 7: Will you or won’t you?

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 7:55 am

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It was almost a year ago, two years into the lifecycle of Windows Vista, that Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer acknowledged at an industry conference that many enterprises were likely to skip the company’s latest operating system in anticipation of its successor, Windows 7. With the new OS shipping next month, what kind of reception will it get from IT shops? Will they flock to the new operating system after waiting out Vista? Or will they take a more cautious approach? We asked some of our readers about their plans for Windows 7.

Don’t fix what isn’t broken

Cris Gheorghiu works as a technical support analyst providing day-to-day IT support for the Kleinburg, Ont.-based McMichael Canadian Art Collection. The art gallery is a small shop, with about 60 to 70 desktops currently under Gheorghiu’s command.

While the recession was probably the biggest influence in preventing a Vista upgrade over the last year, the fact that XP has remained so stable and the art gallery isn’t a full-fledged Microsoft shop could be a strike against a Windows 7 upgrade in the near future.

“I know Microsoft is pushing collaborative applications with Exchange and if we were really dependant on that, we’d have no choice to upgrade,” he said. “But we’re using IBM Lotus Notes, so we’re still pretty happy with what we have. We don’t need more bells and whistles just to look nice.”

To underscore how happy the art gallery is with their current setup, Gheorghiu recalled how easily its offices handled power problems caused by a group of tornados that ripped through the Greater Toronto Area in August.

“If it was an Exchange server it probably would have been one day’s work to get it running,” he said. “But we only needed to restart our Domino server to get everything back in business.”

Another reason a Windows 7 upgrade in the near future is doubtful, Gheorghiu said, is the indirect costs it will have on the art gallery’s infrastructure. The museum has recently added an environment application that controls the temperature and a building automation system that controls the lights. Both of these applications are untested with Vista and Windows 7 and were developed for Windows Server 2003 and XP.

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October 28, 2009

Fraud Alert: Phishing—The Latest Tactics and Potential Business Impact

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 11:00 am

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Overview: The potential impact of phishing can be costly for a business — whether an employee or its customers have been attacked or the company Web site has been compromised. Organizations need to stay current on the latest methods employed by cyber-criminals and take steps to prevent this type of fraud.

This paper highlights the current trends in today’s phishing schemes, the potential impact on companies, and insight into how businesses can apply technology to protect themselves and their customers.

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