All posts by remotehelpexpert

Installed Programs, Running Programs, How Exactly Can They Slow Down Your Computer?

Technical Tips

Every user is probably aware, to one degree or another, of the fact that programs run in his/her computer. But what are the effects of an installed program? what are the effects of a program running actively? Does having a program installed mean it takes CPU power or RAM space?

Let’s start from the beginning. When you power up your computer, it first loads a series of basic programs that comprise the Operating System. These are the programs that allow you to interact with the computer and control it, initiate new programs, etc. Next, there are a number of programs that are flagged to start when the computer boots up. The computer looks up that list and loads those programs in memory as part of the startup process. Logically, the longer the list (and the bigger the programs) the more time it takes for your computer to finish the startup process. Also the more RAM the computer will use and therefore the less it will have available if you need to start new programs like a word processor, a web browser, or an email application.

Now, the fact that a program is installed in a computer does not mean it takes CPU power or RAM space per se. The program needs to be invoked into action by either the computer from a preset list of programs as covered above, or by user intervention as in the example of the word processor. Up until then it will certainly take hard disk space (storage) but that’s it. When a program is started it will take RAM space, and depending on what is doing in real time, it will take more or less CPU power. Therefore it’s a basic maintenance task to check what programs run at startup and shave from that list any unneeded ones (especially if the computer is new or this maintenance routine has never been performed) for you’ll find a lot of times computer have unnecessary programs set to run at startup that don’t need to be and just eat RAM space and CPU power.

Generally speaking, a computer with only the needed programs running at any given time is a mean lean machine that operates faster.

How Browsing the Internet Affects Your Computer

Computer Security, Technical Tips

Cookies: Delicious, yes. But computer cookies, not always. A cookie in computer terms is a file written to your computer by a website you have visited. Sometimes cookies can have a good purpose. Like storing information that can be used to speed up the next time you visit that website. But sometimes cookies are used to keep track of what websites you visit. So they sort of spy on you. Thus, when used that way they’re considered spying software, or spyware. Cookies are not the only type of spyware and not all cookies are spyware.

Now, you might have also heard about temporary Internet files, stored in your computer. What are they? when you visit a website, more often than not, there are graphics (pictures, drawings) and other files that your computer’s web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, are example of web browsers) must download and open for the website to display properly. The computer keeps some of those files in a local cache folder, the temporary Internet files folder, to be able to display the website faster the next time you visit it. In other words, instead of having to access and download those files from the Internet again the next time you visit a website, it simply accesses them from the computer’s storage. As a concept that’s good and useful, but it opens the door to your computer collecting the wrong types of files from the internet, thus infecting your computer – This is known as a drive-by-download infection.

The application of the above theory is immediate. It tells you that a sound action, if you suspect the possibility of an infection in your computer from having visited a malicious website, is to delete all cookies and temporary internet files. How do you do that? it depends on the browser you’re using. You can always search the help file for your browser, or ask an expert for specific instructions on how to do that in your particular browser.

Some antivirus products will inspect every file your computer accesses to display a website, and IF it can recognize it as malign, it can stop it from infecting your computer and alert you to the fact. Of course that is IF. Some products keep lists of known malicious websites to prevent you accidentally accessing one of them and thus infecting your computer.

Well, now you know more about what these computer security products do and why, and what can you do about it as well.

Regarding Hotspot Shield Software

Computer Security

I rarely make an article about one specific product, but this is going to have to be the exception. In an earlier article, which you can find here, I mentioned Hotspot Shield as one of the products one could use for heightened security when dealing with plain internet connections. Although I explicitly stated my mentioning of the product was not an endorsement, I want to update you on this product based on information newly available to me. Kudos to the Sunbelt Software guys (makers of VIPRE Antivirus/Antispyware, a product I do recommend and my current choice for antivirus software) for correctly labeling Hotspot Shield as adware.

For those wondering, adware (advertising-supported software)  is defined as any software program that automatically displays or plays advertisement in the computer where the software is installed, without user intervention or control.

Hotspot Shield falls under that category. Rather than repeat the whole rationale, here’s a link to the back and forth between Sunbelt Software and AnchorFree (the makers of Hotspot Shield):

Here’s the original post labeling Hotspot Shield as adware:

http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/what-part-of-no-adware-dont-you.html

Here’s AnchorFree’s response, and Sunbelt’s retort to it:

http://sunbeltblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/anchorfree-responds-on-hotspot-shield.html

How Fast is a Fast Computer These Days?

Technical Tips

In other words, what’s considered a top-of-the-line computer in present day? Knowing that would give you a measuring stick you could use to measure your computer, or a potential new computer, and so forth.

Now, even though laptops have come a long way in terms of performance in the last few years, and even though a top-of-the-line powerful laptop will outperform most desktops, a top-of-the-line desktop will still outperform its equivalent in laptop form.

Due to its performance-demanding nature, computers designed to run high-end games are the best performance computers. Therefore top-of-the-line computers are synonym with gaming computers. Two brands are generally agreed upon as being the best gaming computers: Sager, and Alienware.

I’m slightly slanted towards Alienware, so let’s see what their top of the line gaming computer is like: first, the current fastest CPU is the Intel i7 980X. It boasts six cores. If you don’t know what that means, let me give you an idea. You have probably heard about the dual-core CPUs that came out a few years ago. They were succeeded by quadruple core CPUs not too long ago. The i7 980X CPU, which came out late last year has, not two, not four, but six processors clocked at 3.73 GHz. That’s an immense amount of processing power. So, the Alienware Area-51 model can be configured to have the i7 980X CPU. It can also be configured to have up to 12 Gb of RAM, a dual dedicated graphics processing unit cards setup, a dual solid-state drive hard disks setup (a solid-state hard disk drive doesn’t have moving parts like a conventional hard disk drive and its access time to read and write is far superior than traditional, spinning hard disks),  Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit operating system (regular, 32-bit operating systems cannot handle more than around 3 Gb of Ram so a 64-bit version is what’s needed to be able to handle the 12 Gb of Ram).

So there you have it. How much for the above monster? at the time of this writing it retails for about $5,800.

Of course an expert could build a custom computer from scratch and get the same performance specifications for less cost. But with no disrespect to custom builders, I’ve found from experience that custom built computers are harder to provide support to than mainstream systems. And generally speaking, there is a well-known triangle in the custom builders’ world (and not just on building computers; I learned it while indulging in the hobby of custom car modifications) that has Performance, Reliability and Cost at its vertexes. In other words, The more performance, the less reliability. Lots of performance while maintaining some reliability will give you high cost. With little expense, don’t hope for much performance or reliability. You get the idea.

OK so now let’s see if you actually read this article. How many hyphens in it? 🙂

How Exactly Does My Computer Connect to The Internet? (The Innards of Your Home Network in Plain English)

Technical Tips

So you have a laptop connected wirelessly to a mysterious box that a technician from your Internet Service Provider company came and installed, and ever since you’re able to check your email online or browse websites. Or perhaps a desktop computer with a wire that connects it to said box, with the same result. That’s all good and dandy but what if something goes wrong and your computer can no longer connect? here’s a couple of tips for what you can do yourself to attempt and solve the situation before you have to call for help from an expert. But first, some theory.

IP addresses, IP addresses. You might have heard that one before, maybe once, maybe many times, but what the bleep is an IP address? IP = Internet Protocol. Hence, think of an IP address like you’d think of a real world physical address. How does somebody send you a letter? they address it to 123 Main St. Anytown, Anystate 55555, and it gets to you. Well, in the computer networking world, that’s exactly what the IP address is – an address by which your computer can be reached. If there is more than one computer in your house, each one  has its own individual IP address. Also, every house with internet connectivity has an IP address, facing externally to the Internet universe, so to speak. Imagine you live in an apartment building. Now mail has to have the apartment number for it to reach you – simply addressing mail to your apartment building address is not enough. Same thing with IP addresses.

That box that the Internet Service Provider installed at your place has an IP address, but if there is more than one computer connected to that box, then each computer in turn has its own unique IP address, different than the box’s one. That box (for more information on what that box is see The Basics Elements of Your Internet Connection) is normally in charge of dishing out IP addresses to the computers at your place. The IP address assignment normally occurs when the computer is first connected to the box. The box says something like “I hereby give you the IP address of…  ” and it assigns it.

Alright, I know your fingers are itching to be able to do something with the above data, so let’s get to it. There are specific circumstances where Internet connectivity is lost because of problems related to IP addresses. Enumerating all the possible problems and their causes is beyond the scope of this article, but let’s say you’re trying to access the Internet, and you can’t.  Well, there is a method of resolving it by “renewing” the computer’s IP address – a repeat of the ceremony where the gateway/router says “I hereby give you the IP address of…”. There are 3 ways to do it, and I’m going to cover them going  from simple to complex. You can choose the method that best suits your level:

Method 1: Turn off your computer, turn off your router/gateway/modem, wait for a minute, and turn them back on in this sequence: First modem/gateway, wait a couple of minutes, then router if there is one, wait for a minute, then computer.

Method 2: Go to Start, Control Panel, Network Connections (may have slightly different name depending on which Windows operating system your computer has), locate the network connection that is being used to connect to the internet, right click on it with your mouse, select “Repair”. Wait for the repair to occur.

Method 3:

a. If your operating system is Windows XP, Go to Start, Run, type “cmd” (without the quotation marks) and press enter. At the command prompt, type “ipconfig  /release” (without the quotation marks) and press enter. Wait for the command to execute and then type “ipconfig  /renew”. Wait for the command to execute and then close that black window where you typed all that.

b. If your operating system is Windows Vista or 7, click on Start, type “cmd” in the search box, locate “cmd.exe” at the top of the start menu, right click on it, choose “Run as Administrator”. At the command prompt, type “ipconfig /release” (without the quotation marks) and press enter. Wait for the command to execute and then type “ipconfig /renew” (without the quotation marks). Wait for the command to execute and then close that black window where you typed all that.

If you have internet connectivity now, pat yourself in the back. You did it.

Why is The Hard Drive in My Computer Called “c:” ?

Technical Tips

Well, I’m glad you asked. The first personal computer, the grand-grand-grandfather of the computer you’re using to read this, had  “floppy disk drives”, that used a thin magnetic disk for data storage. Sometimes a computer had two floppy disk drives, one for holding the operating system files that enabled the computer to function, and another for storing documents and other files. These 2 drives were labeled “A” and “B”. If there was a hard disk present as well, its designated drive letter would then of course be “C”.

OK but what’s with the colon after the letter? To be honest, I don’t know.  This is what I do know: back in the pre-Windows days, it was part of the path that showed where you where in a particular drive, in the tree directory. Don’t get confused. It’s very simple.  If  you have ever seen this in a computer monitor:

c:\>

You get the idea. “c:” indicates the drive, “\” indicates that you are at the root directory, the first most basic directory, and “>” is an end symbol which indicates that after that comes whatever you as a user type. Typically a blinking cursor shows after that, so it looks like

c:\>_

(You’ll have to imagine the above cursor is blinking) 🙂

In modern Windows computers you can invoke a small black screen with the command prompt mode as described above by clicking on Start, Run, Command, or for Windows Vista/7, Start, typing “cmd” in the search box and pressing enter. Of course, the command prompt will probably look something like:

c:\Users\Username>_

Or perhaps

c:\windows>_

Want it to look like “c:\>”? at that command prompt, type cd\ and press enter. Voila!

Anyways, when you open My Computer to look at files and whatnot, normally you will see under it a (C:) and under there, in a tree directory fashion, a number of folders. Well, now you know what that (C:) means.

How to Recognize an E-mail Scam

Computer Security

“I Just got an email that says…”:

1) I was just awarded a million dollars by Google.

2) That my email account needs to be verified and for that I need to provide certain information.

3) That the IRS needs me to fill out a form with personal information and fax it back to a fax number in Canada.

4) That UPS could not deliver my package because it doesn’t have my address, and needs the following data by return e-mail so if you could please fill out the attached form…

On and on ( laughable as they are, the above are actual scam e-mails making their way around the world). So, what do scam e-mails have in common? How can they be recognized?

1. They ask you for sensitive data, such as a password, social security number, bank account or credit card details, and so forth. And usually they offer a reward if provided or threaten a penalty if not provided.

2. They often are written with bad grammar or have glaring typos in them (like an email from Hotmail calling it “hot mail”)

3. They come from an e-mail address that is not related to where it’s supposed to be coming from.

In some cases they throw a curve because they ask for sensitive data and provide a file attached to the email, which one is supposed to use to provide the data. However the purpose of the e-mail is not to get your data, but to get you to open the attachment that is not what it appears and will infect your computer if opened, like the UPS example above. Pretty slimy.

So if you ever get an e-mail with any of the above points (especially the first point), know that it’s a scam, and don’t fall for it.  Delete it, report it if you know how to and feel like it. But whatever you do, don’t provide the information requested. Don’t even reply.

Emails – Secure Method of Communication?

Computer Security, Technical Tips

To use a common comparison: Plain, unencrypted email is like a postcard with its message written with a pencil. It can be seen while in transit, and it can be modified as well. Since more people than not seem to be unaware of this fact, this is my contribution to changing that.

OK so now, what in the name of all that is holy can we do with that datum? well, you know now that if you are having correspondence by email, you shouldn’t write anything you don’t mind being seen by anyone other than the counterpart of your correspondence. Another thing you can do is implement email encryption, whereby the email is not in plain text anymore, but transformed into unintelligible characters so that it can’t be read or changed by unintended recipients while in transit, and then decrypted at the receiving end so the actual intended recipient can read the original message.

As far as encrypted email  goes, there are two main ways to go about it. One is web-based, meaning you have to set up an account on a website (just like you would do with a Yahoo or Hotmail account) and then use that account when you want to generate secure emails. Hushmail (http://www.hushmail.com) is a good example of that. Others exist as well. the second way is implementing encryption in your computer’s email client (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, Eudora are some examples of email clients). By installing a program such as Comodo’s Secure Email (http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/secure-email.php), this can be achieved.

Whichever method you want to use, encryption is the standard solution to ensuring privacy when it comes to emails.

Wireless Networks, Getting Maximum Quality Signal

Technical Tips

Fascinating subject, that of wireless networking. Like other subjects related to computers and technology, it has evolved fast.

What is the most common problem when it comes to wireless connections? The signal is too weak. In other words, the connection drops, or its speed is considerable slow, the quality of the connection is poor, and so on. So, what do you do?

The first and most fundamental concept you need to grasp on the subject is LINE-OF-SIGHT. In its simplest form, it means literally that, i.e. if your wireless receiver (in your computer) can SEE the transmitter (usually a router connected to the internet cable that comes into your place), you’re in good shape. Radio signals used by wireless networking connections are similar to normal light. Normal light doesn’t get through a wall. Well neither does the wireless signal. Well maybe not exactly the same. Wireless signals are slightly better at that than normal light. But you get the idea. Using that concept, you know that if your transmitter is in the living room and you are in your room, with a wall in between, the quality of the wireless connection is going to suffer. Or if you are one floor above the transmitter, again an obstacle prevents line-of-sight, this time the floor.  Add enough physical obstacles and distance, and your connection is no longer able to be sustained.

Therefore, if at all possible, maintain line-of-sight between your computer’s wireless receiver and the transmitter. If you can’t, for whatever reason, then there are several things that can be done. One is, adding a better suited antenna to the receiver, or the transmitter. Another one is increasing the power of the signal being transmitted. A third one is adding a repeater. This is perhaps my favorite one. The idea is to add an additional device between the transmitter and the receiver. Its function is to receive the signal coming from the transmitter, and re-transmit it, with new strength and proximity to the receiver. So instead of:

Transmitter ———————————> Receiver

We have:

Transmitter ———Repeater————-> Receiver

The benefits are obvious, and the results invariable.

Let me know if you are having trouble on this area. I can help you improve the quality of your wireless signal.

Advances in Computer Technology

Technical Tips

When anyone stops for a moment and starts looking at the number of technological advances in recent years/decades, it will become apparent that they seem to be popping into view faster and faster. My theory is that because advances in technology are cumulative, in an unhindered environment they will happen with a “snowball” effect. In other words, it builds momentum upon itself. For example, the series of technological advances that made the Internet possible, are now used to further accelerate technology by using the Internet itself as a communication, knowledge-sharing, collaboration tool. Think how much faster technological progress can be achieved now thanks to tools like the Internet, and compare it to 150 years ago. You get the idea. Snowball. This is true not only in computer technology, but in technology in general. However, to stay on-subject in regards the subject I usually write about, we’ll look at this phenomenon as it relates to computers.

So down to the practical side of it, what does this mean for the average computer user? In other words, is there a point to all this babbling? Well, hopefully, there is. One of the things it means is that your computer equipment is getting older faster, relatively speaking. This has two consequences: one is your computer devalues faster. The other one however is more positive: The not-so-new, yet way ahead of an “old” (over 3 years old) computer, is cheaper than before. And capable of fulfilling your basic computing needs without a problem.

Nowadays there is a breakthrough in computer technology about every 6 months. Based on that, a computer that is 3 years old is 6 breakthroughs behind. You get the idea. So when you have a computer that is older than that (3 years), and it’s not working properly, make sure to evaluate if repairing whatever might be wrong with it is worth it, because after a few hours of tech support/repairing, it’s going to be more economical to buy a new one than to repair the old one. And if you were to go with the repair option, at the end of it you’d still have an old (albeit repaired) computer. This would not be that way without the above current phenomena on the speed of technological advances. So wanted to make sure you were aware of all this.