Category Archives: Technical Tips

Where’s the beef? Here’s the beef.

Your kids and computers

Computer Security, Technical Tips,

Computers are powerful production tools. They can also be entertaining. Sometimes too entertaining.  Access to online games, pornography, file sharing and other questionable activities can make your computer a liability more than an asset for you as a responsible and caring parent.

Let me start by stating the obvious: your kid probably knows more about computers than you do. Nothing wrong with that per se, except that there might be things going on with your computers at home that you are not aware of, or are aware of but don’t know what to do about. That’s the subject of this article.

This is not a rhetorical discussion and I’m not speaking from hypothetical experience. It happens every day. A recent  client was puzzled by her teenage son’s sleeping pattern (sleeping a lot during the day). In doing a routine check on one of the client’s computers at home, the reason became evident: the kid was sneaking into the computer late at night, like 1 am or so, and then accessing inappropriate websites until 4 or 5 am and then sneaking back to bed. And this was otherwise a good kid, no other particular bad habits, etc. But the parents were absolutely clueless. So it can happen to anyone.

Let’s assume you are at the stage where you don’t think there are unethical activities going on with your computer(s) at home, but would like to keep an eye to make sure it stays that way. Some sort of monitoring software would be in order. An example of this is Spector Pro 2009, which you can find here: http://www.spectorsoft.com/. With it you can monitor what websites are accessed in a computer, incoming and outgoing emails, downloads, instant messages, even key stroke logging (recording of all input via the keyboard) is available.

If (or once) you have detected undesirable activity such as inappropriate websites access, online gaming, off-hours activity or anything like that, you can move to the next stage and put access control software in place, such as Refog Personal Monitor which you can find here: http://www.refog.com/personal-monitor.html .

It is an unfortunate fact that a good percentage of malware infections are associated with illegal downloading of software or media, accessing inappropriate sites and use of online games. That is yet another reason why these should be monitored and controlled on your computer(s).

Contact me if you want tips on what to look for as signs of undesirable activity in your computer(s).

Why is my Computer so @!#?%^&* Slow? – Part IV

Technical Tips, ,

Hard Disk Fragmentation

Your computer’s hard disk stores all the programs your computer needs to run, plus all your documents, pictures, videos, etc.

As time goes by, your stored files become “fragmented”. You might have heard this before, but what does it mean and what does it have to do with your computer speed?

First of all, let me say that this issue is not the same in computers that have Windows XP or older, and Windows Vista and newer (Windows 7). Windows XP and older are more likely to suffer from this issue if there is no user intervention. Yet, due to the large amount of users that still have Windows XP, I’ll cover the subject.

Disk fragmentation is the storage of individual files in more than one non-consecutive physical space in the hard disk drive. Consider the following diagram, where X is available hard disk space, and F is an individual file:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The above shows a file that is NOT fragmented. The hard disk will be able to read it sequentially, and using minimum time. Now consider this:

XXXXXXXXXXFFFXXXXXFFFXXXXXXXXFFFFFFFFFXXXXXXXXFFF

In the above, “F” represents one file, yet it is stored in 4 different parts of the hard disk. When the hard disk reads it, it takes longer because it has to jump location 3 times to read the whole file. This is, in an oversimplified manner, what disk fragmentation means.

It is a truism that a computer is only as fast as its slowest component. Let’s take a look at some numbers. In the last 10 years, computers processing speed have increased enormously. Storage capacity (hard disk drives size) has also increased enormously. However, one thing that has not increased proportionally is the data transfer rate (the speed with which the hard disk drive reads/writes). As a result we have really fast CPUs (Central Processing Unit – the computer’s “brain”) relatively idle, waiting for data to be supplied to them to work on. So it becomes important to make sure transfer (read and write) times are minimized. This is why disk defragmentation can play an important role in your computer’s performance.

There are built-in and third-party software for Windows operating systems available to handle this aspect of your computer performance. Whichever one you use, make sure your hard disk drive gets defragmented periodically so your computer is not slowed down.

Why is my Computer so @!#?%^&* Slow? – Part III

Computer Security, Technical Tips,

This is the third article in this series. In case you missed them, here’s the first and second.

Malware

Malware, or malicious software, can be defined as a program designed to harm your computer or grant unauthorized access to it. One of the possible reasons for your computer being slow is malware running in it. In fact I’d dare say, if your computer is running at normal speed and it slows down all of a sudden, most likely it’s due to a malware infection. Conversely, not all malware slow computers down. At least not noticeably. In any case it holds true that one of the signs of an infected computer is sluggish performance. Probably the worst cause of a computer slowdown is malware, because not only will your computer be slow, but it won’t be totally under your control anymore! What to do? Naturally the computer needs to be disinfected. I’m assuming you have an anti-malware solution in place. Run a full scan. If nothing is found but you still suspect your computer is infected. you can try free online scanners such as Panda’s, Trend Micro’s, BitDefender’s, Kaspersky’s, Microsoft’s, Eset’s, to name a few. These can sometimes detect what your installed antivirus missed. Note that depending on the nature and severity of the infection, the malware might block access to security companies’ websites to prevent detection and removal. So if the above links don’t work, that’s probably the reason why. Once all the normal basic routines are unsuccessful in removing a resilient infection, it’s time to contact an expert to get the computer cleaned up. This is when the handling enters the realm of advanced manual malware removal techniques. Look for my soon-to-be-released article on how to best prevent getting infected in the first place and what is the best product to achieve that. Due to how relevant it is, that will be the next article to be published, and after that I’ll continue with the rest of this computer slowness series. Update 7/29/09: Here it is.

Why is my Computer so @!#?%^&* Slow? – Part II

Technical Tips

This is the second in the series of articles on computer slowness and what to do to speed it up. In case you missed the first, you can find it here.

Bloatware

Bloatware is another cause for computer slowness. There are two definitions of bloatware – both apply in the context of this article.

The first one is software (programs, applications) that come pre-installed in your computer when newly bought, mostly consisting of trials, that you didn’t necessarily asked for or will use. Nothing wrong with them except they tend to use computer resources and to that degree, they will slow it down.

Why? Contrary to common belief, a computer’s Central Processing Unit (its “brain”) cannot run multiple applications at the same time. It cannot execute more than one program at a time. In fact, it cannot run more than one instruction (command) of a program at a time. This is true of even the recent computers that come with “dual cores” that you might have heard about. Each CPU can only execute one instruction per time unit. How does the computer create the illusion of running multiple applications simultaneously?

Akin to a versed juggler, a computer can keep several balls in the air at the same time, so to speak. With several applications opened, it divides its capacity to execute programs by alternating among them. The priority of the programs running can be established so the computer executes more or less relative commands of one  before it goes to the next program. So it goes something like this: Application A: execute one command, jump to Application B, run one command, jump to Application C, run two commands, and so on. The trick is that a computer can execute commands and alternate between applications so fast that it gives the illusion of simultaneity.

What does all this have to do with bloatware or computer slowness? obviously the more applications installed and running in a computer, the less each individual application will have the computer’s “attention” and so too many programs running “at the same time” will slow down the execution of each program. So what can be done about it? I’ll circle back to that in a moment.

The second definition of bloatware is related to the “inside” of the programs (applications, software) themselves. Modern applications tend to heavily use computer resources and have features that are not needed, partially because programmers rely on modern computers being faster and being able to deal with sloppy programming as described above.

So what can you do about all this? On the first definition, uninstalling the bloatware is the obvious answer. Careful though if you’re going to try that yourself – make sure you are certain which programs are bloatware and which are essential programs your computer needs to run properly.

Computer savvy users will go as far as re-installing the computer’s operating system from scratch (a clean install)  to get rid of all the bloatware that comes with an average new computer. This is one of the reasons why (but not the only one)  reinstalling a computer’s operating system from scratch will always deliver a faster computer.

On the second definition, not much you can do about it, other than maybe pray. Seriously though, just be aware of the concept and try to choose applications that run lean on computer resources. Ask an expert as needed.

Getting rid of bloatware is another step towards operating a fast computer. Contact me if you need help doing it.

Why is my Computer so @!#?%^&* Slow? – Part I

Technical Tips

This probably should have been one of the first subjects covered when I started writing about computers. It is without a doubt the most common complaint from any given user. It’s fascinating in a way when you consider that computers in general have done nothing but get faster and faster over the years. A fast personal computer’s Central Processing Unit or CPU (the computer’s “brain”) today is over 200 times faster than the fastest personal computer’ CPU in 1990. So why are people complaining?

Of course, someone will say, CPU speed is not the only factor in determining computer’s speed. True. But even so, what is behind those seemingly contrary facts? And what, if anything, can be done about it?

The answer is big enough to be covered in more than one article, hence the “Part I”. I will cover all the ones I know, in no particular order, in a series of articles.

I covered earlier the relationship between the amount of memory in a computer and its speed. That’s one.

Internet Connection and Speed

Here’s a good one. You’re browsing the Internet, and the website pages you are trying to access are taking forever to load. You ask yourself, why is this computer so slow? Well, in fact, chances are it’s got nothing to do with your computer – it’s likely to be your internet connection speed. In some cases, if your computer is connected wirelessly to the device that connects you to the internet, it can be “internal” in that way. But most likely the problem is outside your door.

Still, I’ll cover some things you can do, internally (inside your house or office) and externally.

To assert your connection speed and see if it’s the problem, you can first measure it. Here’s the website I normally use to measure internet connection speed: http://speedtest.net. Click on the link to go that website.

Once the website has loaded, click on the golden star, which indicates the server nearest to you. A brief test will follow that will measure latency – how long it takes for a particle to travel to the internet server and back to your computer, download speed (data coming into your computer from the internet like the websites you’re trying to access), and upload speed (data going from your computer towards the internet). After a few moments it will present you with the results.

Latency (ping) is measured in ms (miliseconds), download and upload speed are measured in Megabits per second or Mbps (the unit that measures the amount of data transmitted per unit of time).

NOTE:  Be careful with the links in that website that try to lure you into downloading programs that will speed up your computer. I don’t particularly endorse them and if you’re not an advanced user you might be over your head trying to download, install and run such programs.

As a rule of thumb I’d say if you have less than 0.5 Mbps download speed, your connection is probably slowing you down. More than 500 ms in latency it’d probably be noticeable when browsing.

Upload speed is not so critical for normal web browsing as it is for other activities such as uploading files to a website or playing online games.

Remember: the subject is extensive and there are many other reasons why you computer might be seemingly slow. I’ll cover all the others I know in future articles.

If you need help to improve your computer speed and performance, feel free to contact me for assistance.

Windows Basics: General Keyboard Shortcuts

Technical Tips

Readily available but not so known are Windows keyboard shortcuts. Most people know Control+C for copy and Control+V for paste, but did you know these? (this is not a complete list by any means, just a few not-so-known-but-useful ones):

Alt+Home: In Internet Explorer or Firefox, it will take you to your home page.

Alt+F4: Close the current active window. When no window is selected and you’re on the desktop. It will bring up the shutdown computer dialog.

Control+A: Select all the text or items in the current active window

Control+W: Similar to Alt-F4, but only on closing the current active window.

Control+Enter: When in Internet explorer or Mozilla Firefox (probably other web browsers too), go to the address bar (where you can type the website you want to go to) and type only the website name (i.e. yahoo). Press Control-Enter and it will make it http://www.yahoo.com and take you to that website.

Windows Key+D: minimize all open windows and show the desktop.

Windows Key+F:  Invoke Windows Search.

Windows Key+R: Invoke the “run command” window.

Windows Key+L: Locks your computer

Windows Key+E: Opens Windows Explorer (not to be confused with Internet Explorer).

Windows Key+Break: Opens the System Properties dialog box.

Shift+Control+Esc: Invokes the Windows Task Manager.

Shift: Press and hold down the Shift key while you insert a CD-ROM to bypass the automatic-run feature.

Try each one of these out and learn them – it will speed up your computer related work.

To Update or Not to Update, That is the Question

Computer Security, Technical Tips,

Normally I wouldn’t even write about this subject because it almost seems like a redundancy to mention it, but recently came across some misconceptions that urged me to help set the record straight.

Software updates, what are they? what are they for? should they be installed? Generally speaking, the main computer software updates are its operating system updates. Since I don’t work with Macs, this means Windows updates. These updates can have 3 goals: improved stability, improved security, improved performance.

Specifically on security, the cycle goes like this: some not-so-well-intentioned fellow(s) looks for and finds a vulnerability in a current Windows operating system. That means a security hole which if successfully exploited, allows the bad guy to gain access to your computer data and maybe even gain control over it. Not good. Microsoft gets wind of the vulnerability, develops a “patch” to fix it, tests it, releases it through Windows update, it gets applied broadly, no more security hole. The cycle repeats over and over in an endless race over the zero-day exploit. The term derives from the age of the exploit. When Microsoft becomes aware of a security hole, there is a race to close it before more attackers discover it or the vulnerability becomes public. A “zero day” attack occurs on or before the first or “zeroth” day of vendor awareness, meaning Microsoft has not had any opportunity to disseminate a security fix to users of the software.

Stability and performance follow a less hectic path, but they are nonetheless also upgrades.

Other non-operating system software vendors also provide updates for their software with the same goals.

Now, some people seem to be against installing updates, partially due to bad past experiences, i.e. after installing an update, something went wrong and the computer had a new problem. Does it happen? yes. Have some updates been more damaging than beneficial? yes. Does that mean one should just not update? NO. In the overall grand scheme of things, updates will always be more beneficial than harmful.

Keep your computer up-to-date with the latest updates from Microsoft and any other applicable software vendors. It is an essential step to keeping your computer secure and healthy.

Contact me if you need help on the subject.

Keeping Your Computer Cool in the Summer

Technical Tips

It is a known fact that dust is one of your computer’s worst enemies. Less known than that is the fact that dust will help bring in another archenemy: overheat.

An accumulation of dust in your computer’s internals and vents will create an isolating coat that will hinder the computer cooling down by the normal airflow provided by its fan(s). A blocked vent will of course only compound the felony. Now that summer is coming once again, it behooves all of us to make sure the computer stays cool. And eliminating its dust plays a key role in it.

There are 3 main ways this can be accomplished. The first one is by using canned air or an air compressor. The second one is a soft brush and a vacuum. The third one and least frequent, total tear down and clean of individual components. Probably a combination of  the first and second one yields the best results.

Only tips on what to avoid while doing this are:

1) Make sure you don’t carry static so that accidentally touching an internal component fries part of your computer. Before touching any internal computer part, touch your computer case to discharge any static. If you’re a purist, there is an anti-static wrist strap you can use.

2) Make sure when blowing air, whether canned or from a compressor, that there is no humidity being blown into the computer as well.

Whether you do this yourself or you have somebody do it for you, it’s extremely beneficial to the optimum operating condition of your computer.

Regarding Backups

Technical Tips

Backup is the activity of creating copies of computer data files, mainly for data loss and disaster recovery purposes. Being as it is that computers run on data,  preserving its integrity – operating system files, data files, your word documents, emails, pictures, videos, etc. – rapidly becomes high priority. The amount of hours lost trying to rebuild a crashed computer can be pretty high, and losing forever valuable documents or files is even higher.

Backups is no small subject and there are different types of it depending on its approach to create copies of files. It goes from creating a full copy of the original computer’s hard disk (cloning) to selecting documents and files to back up within certain folders, and then updating the backups at set periods by adding copies of any newly changed or created files (incremental) to continuous data protection where there is a service running constantly that will log any changes in the system and will enable to roll back to an earlier version of any given file.

Two more aspects should be taken into account when considering backups. One is automated scheduling, which increases the reliability of the activity, and other other one is data validation, to make sure of the integrity of the data backup.

There are multiple software solutions  that deal with creating backups, at programmed intervals and with data validation. Some versions of Windows even have their own embedded solutions.

How often should you back up your data? the answer to that question is the same as the answer to “how much time worth of data can I afford to loose? bi-weekly? weekly? daily? hourly?

I personally have an external hard disk that is a clone of my computer’s hard disk, and in which I run incremental backups daily. The software I use for that is Acronis True Image Home 2009. In the event of a hard disk crash, I can swap hard disks and be up and running in minutes like nothing happened. Well, maybe not like nothing happened, like I only lost a few hours worth of data.

Contact me if you need help setting a backup system for your computer(s), or if you need revisiting your existing one.

Good Surfing and Emailing Habits

Computer Security, Technical Tips

Consist of:

  • Never disclose personal information in response to an email request or an online pop-up message. Banks and other companies never request sensitive, personal information such as account details and Social Security numbers over the Internet. They are also unlikely to request you call a phone number provided in an email to verify information. Instead refer to phone numbers on your financial statements or on the back of your credit card and only share credit card details with reputable online retailers and auction sites. These organizations typically provide secure internal message centers or transaction histories to check for important correspondence and transactions. Avoid using public or shared computers when accessing financial accounts or conducting online transactions and exercise caution when using a PC in a wireless hotspot.
  • Avoid solicitations for donations. Limit online charitable donations to organizations you know and trust. Common donation scams  include foreign lotteries, the Nigerian email scam, cure-all products, debt relief, and anything promising an unbelievable return on investment.
  • Patch Windows and keep all applications up to date. Cybercriminals target vulnerabilities in the most popular applications and operating systems. For this reason, apply security updates not only on operating systems but to all often-used programs. Also, apply security updates to third party software, which can act as an attack vector for malware even when your operating system is fully patched. Enable automatic updates whenever possible.
  • Click only on links and email attachments from known and trusted sources. If an email seems suspicious, consider that a friend’s email account may have been compromised or spoofed. With cybercriminals targeting many popular social networking sites, you cannot always ensure that your friends are truly sending an email. Run a virus scan on a suspicious attachment and check the URL with a web reputation service. Or consider calling the sender by phone if you are unsure.
  • Avoid clicking on any link displayed as a numeric IP number, rather than a domain name.
  • Disable browser scripting and avoid downloadable widgets wherever possible. Many web-based attacks use various scripting languages to run infectious programs in a browser or use downloadable widgets to execute infections locally.
  • Download software from trusted web sites only. Free games and file-sharing software may come bundled with malware. Be cautious when downloading applications on social networking sites. The applications may be harmless but may be easily compromised.
  • Monitor where external devices are used and update all security software to combat potential threats. Digital picture frames, iPods and other MP3 players, PDAs, USB sticks, flash drives, digital cameras”all these devices can harbor malware that can cripple a home network.
  • Lock your mobile phone to prevent data theft or the installation of spyware or other unscrupulous applications. Also, delete text messages from unknown senders and download ring tones and games only from legal, official web sites. If an application appears to be infected, delete it immediately. Change Bluetooth settings to non-discoverable or hide to avoid attempts to pair or connect with a mobile phone or device propagating a virus. Also, when using Bluetooth, be careful when accepting files to avoid possible infections or viruses. If a mobile phone becomes infected, turn off all Bluetooth functions so malware on the phone cannot locate new targets and reflash your device to return it to factory settings.