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Legacy Windows Support to be Abandoned

April 11th, 2010

For those of you running versions of Microsoft Windows without (what Micro$oft considers to be) current service packs, you are about to be disowned by the Behemoth from Redmond.  Just thought you might want to know.

The versions included in this swift kick to the curb are:

  • Windows XP with service pack 2 (support ends July 13, 2010, along with Windows 2000 Maintenance and Support)
  • Windows Vista with no service packs (support ends April 13, 2010)
  • Microsoft seems to have “a thing” about the 13th of the month…
  • This means you will no longer be able to receive monthly updates, service packs and security fixes from M$oft.

So no problem, you say, I’ll just go download the updates, right?  Sure, if you like to live dangerously.  Read the blog entries on service pack 3 for XP regarding the risks.  Any service pack for Vista is a double-edged sword.  Since Vista is by far the most unstable and unpredictable OS ever released, doing anything at all to it is riddled with risks.  While Vista should have all the service packs you can find for it, the time to install them is ridiculous (about 5 hours for Vista on any given HP machine for reasons we don’t understand) and you can wind up with a machine that is in a reboot / repair loop forever.

Service Pack 3 for XP has caused no end of headaches for some people.  It’s a zero-benefit service pack in our estimation, simply bundling a wad of updates into an SP and shoving a modified version down the pipe to end users labeled a Critical Update.  You are far better off to install it from a disk rather than a download (look for our article on this).

If you are going to install a service pack, BACK UP YOUR DATA FIRST.  Do NOT use Vista Backup to do this (read our blog entry on this as well).  Copy what you need to an external drive manually or download the recommended backup software listed on our Good Things / Bad Things page.

Keep in mind, you NEED the Security Updates for Windows.  You do need to resolve this issue in a timely manner to remain safe.

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Posted in Information, News, Recommendations, URGENT

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Chuck Norris Says Change Your Router Password… or He’ll Kick Your Butt

March 30th, 2010

Recently, a new botnet (group of devices working together to attack or distribute infections to other systems) was discovered infecting everyday routers as well as enterprise routers worldwide.  This cleverly crafted infestation attacks even Linus-based devices.  Egads!  How is this possible?  Isn’t Linux immune to infection?

Not if you don’t change the default username and password combination your system shipped with, it’s not.  This is how the Chuck Norris infection attacks a system – buy guessing common username / password combinations it has in it’s database.  Incredibly simple, as most people don’t change the login security on their routers.  Most don’t even change the SSID (name that’s broadcast by your router) which makes it really easy to guess the security login if you have even rudimentary knowledge of popular routers.

Windows-based computers are inherently insecure.  Almost all viruses are engineered to attack Windows systems, as they constitute the largest percentage of computers worldwide.  That being said, it is a lot easier to infect any device if you can bypass it’s login security.  This is what makes the Chuck Norris infection to clever.  It is OS-independent.

So if you’re infected, what do you do?

Reboot your router?  Since Chuck Norris is memory resident and doesn’t alter any code – or actually “infect” your router, just reboot it.  Not sure how?  Just pull the plug.  Wait a couple of minutes and plug the power back in.  You’re now un-infected?

Want to stay that way – and keep from being hacked by every neighbor kid with a laptop?

  1. This infection also exploits a known vulnerability in D-Link routers.  If you have one, check for updates to your router and install them.
  2. Login to your router as administrator.  Find your router documentation if you don’t know how
    (whoever setup your router should have provided you with this information – we do.)
  3. Change the SSID on your router to something that does NOT give away your name, location or street address.
  4. Change the administrator user name and password for your router
  5. WRITE THIS DOWN SOMEWHERE!
  6. Reboot your router.
  7. Reconfigure all your wireless devices to talk to the new SSID.
  8. You’re secure.

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Posted in Bad Things in General, Information, Malware, Viruses and Bugs Galore, News, Recommendations, Tech Tips

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Facebook Infections Continue

February 24th, 2010

Several times a day we get people bringing in badly infected computers with the current variety of the Fake Antivirus family of Trojan Horse bug in circulation.  These infections are all the same, look similar in spite of having different names (because they’re all created with the same toolbox) – and have the same goal:  Their purpose is to extort money from you under the pretense of “protecting” you from the infections they tell you they’ve found — AND to run your credit card over it’s limit with worldwide purchases galore — AND to harvest your personal identity information from your computer so they can open accounts under your name and empty them, thereby destroying your credit rating while lining their pockets nicely.

As we have said since June of 2008:

STAY AWAY FROM FACEBOOK unless you’re using a Mac or a Linux-based computer.  PCs CANNOT be protected from these infections.  The authors of these pests discovered about a year ago, that they could circumvent most of the internet Security products (Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, Kaspersky, Avast, AVG, etc.) by updating their code so frequently that NO Antivirus product can keep up with them.  Brilliant.  And impossible to protect against using the current popular mechanism.  We have disinfected over 300 computers since June of 2008 so far and the number grows every day.  Two years ago we would clean these computers, install AVG AntiVirus and send folks on their way telling them they were protected.  Not Any More!  Now we tell our clients, after cleaning (or more likely reinstalling) and installing AVG, that they are NOT 100% protected – and if they do what they did prior to infection, they will likely be infected AGAIN.

So for now:

Whatever AntiVirus / Internet Security product YOU think is the best, employing it will NOT protect you.  Period.

STAY AWAY FROM FACEBOOK

and MySpace

and be Very Careful what you click on in a Google or Yahoo search.  A growing percentage of search results (even the sponsored (yellow background ads at the top of Google’s listings) are infected and the second you click on the link, it’s OVER.  Even hovering over the link with Google’s page preview turned on will infect you.

The Internet is no longer safe and you need to be very careful how you use it.

If this scares you…  Good.  Maybe you will be careful enough to remain infection-free.

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Posted in Bad Things in General, Information, Malware, Viruses and Bugs Galore, Recommendations

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Are You A Victim of (or a Participant in) Software Piracy?

February 12th, 2010

We have seen a growing number of computers coming into our shop that have been serviced by other shops or unaffiliated independent technicians where the computer contains pirated software / Operating Systems.  This has been done without the owner’s knowledge or consent — but that does not make them innocent of the crime.

We had one computer in recently where a local shop had reinstalled the OS to fix a virus problem.  When the owner picked it up, the shop proprietor informed him they had “given him” Microsoft Word so he could write letters.  In point of fact, they had installed Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate edition, which sells for $679.95.  In addition, they had removed the licensed version of AVG 9 Antivirus the customer owned and installed the Free version, improperly configured.  The shop owner fabricated a story about having a license for AVG which allowed him to “give” the full version away.  Simply not true.  We are AVG Gold Resellers and no such program exists.  He simply installed the free version of AVG anyone can download from their website. This is outright theft.  It is also piracy and the owner is culpable, albeit an unwilling participant in the crime.

We had another machine, serviced by the same shop, which was actually built by them, and came in for performance issues.  The computer was a good combination of hardware, but contained a pirated /bogus version of Vista with no COA (the sticker you find on the outside of legit computers with the OS license key) and a hacked version of McAfee antivirus.  In addition, this computer also had Microsoft Office 2007 Ultimate edition installed, which the customer had not requested, nor paid for.

Recently we had another machine come in, where a local tech reinstalled the OS and when the owner received the computer back, her Windows XP machine now had Windows Vista installed.  She was not happy.  The Microsoft Office she owned and had previously installed was missing (as it should be unless she supplied the disks), but she was not consulted or informed of any of these changes before, during or after repairs.  This is outright piracy in addition to being a bad business practice.

Legitimate businesses will not engage in this kind of behavior.  It is illegal, immoral and reprehensible — and most of us are smart enough not to risk our businesses, reputation and freedom to install pirated software.  If  this has been done to you, look for a new tech and report the people who engage in this pattern of theft and piracy.

If you feel you have been a victim of such software theft or piracy, pick up your phone and call 1-800-R-U-LEGIT to report the people who did this to you.

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Posted in Bad Things in General, Information, Recommendations

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MS Office 2007 Options

February 5th, 2010

So Microsoft comes out with a shiny new version of their flagship Microsoft Office product in 2007.  Nothing unusual here, except in this case, as soon as the 2007 product is released, all copies of the prior version, Office 2003, vanish from the supply line.  The most popular and best-behaved version of this product line vanishes without a trace.  Coincidence?  I doubt it.

Have you used MS Office 2007?

Do you like it?

Do you have a choice?

Here is our experience:

MS Office 2007 bears a striking resemblance in look and feel to Windows Vista.  Very sleek and stylized, clean to a ridiculous degree, and completely incompatible with all other version of Office that came before it.  In the design of MS Office 2007, the monkeys at Micro$oft, who apparently work in a total vacuum, removed all the menu functions that allowed us be so productive in the past, and hid them as deep in the system as possible (try centering some text and let us know how long that takes you).

Additionally, M$ thought it would be a good idea to create this very complicated document with massive capabilities (which probably less than .05% of the population will ever use), resulting in the .docX file types and building in seemingly mandatory upgrades for the entire PC world.  Ever get an email from someone with a document attached you can’t open?  That has been a problem since this version was released, causing lots of people to go out and spend their hard-earned $$ on Office 2007 so they can open their cousin’s Christmas list…
Most people don’t know you can download the Office Compatibility Pack and allow Office 2003 to open Office 2007 documents.
You can also abandon Micro$oft entirely and install Open Office version 3 or later and open ANY Microsoft document – for FREE.  Take THAT, Micro$oft!

Go to www.openoffice.org and download a free product that will do everything you need (and be able to open your cousin’s Christmas List…)

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Search Engine Infections on the Rise

February 5th, 2010

The bulk of the Fake Antivirus infections making up the viral epidemic spreading like wildfire since June of 2008, had been coming from Facebook and Myspace web pages until recently.  Lately, we have seen a shift in the source of infection to web search results.  Both Google and Yahoo searches have been bringing up infected results.  These infections show up not only in the actual main search results, but in the Sponsored search results (on Google, these show up at the top of the list with a yellow shaded background).  Sponsored search results are ads that Google receives vast sums of money to place at the very top of search results for certain keywords or phrases.  In other words, the criminals responsible for the infection on your computer are paying good money (to Google) to effect this result.  They do this because they know the end result is well worth their investment.

Also, over the last year we have seen a change in the methodology implemented by the miscreants distributing these infections.  Around this time a year ago, someone realized they could permanently circumvent all of the Internet security products that exist today, by simply updating the code to their little “pets” on a very rapid basis (say every 30 minutes).  Since even the most advanced Antivirus products only update their definitions every 4 hours, there is no way they can keep up with the new virus code being distributed.  We fine-tune our AVG antivirus install to update every Hour.  That is still inadequate.  We have lost the battle.  Period.  Until the methodology employed by the people protecting us changes to a hardware-based solution that simply does not allow viral behavior, we are all screwed.

What does all this mean to you?  It means, regardless of the Internet security product you think is the best, implementing it will NOT protect you 100%.  Nothing will protect you 100%.  If you are not extremely circumspect about where you go on the Internet and what you click on, your computer WILL be infected and you will NOT be able to resolve the problem yourself.  Even attempting to fix it yourself will likely make the problem worse, resulting in an un-bootable computer after all your personal information has been stolen and while your identity is being compromised.

What’s the solution?

  1. Buy an Apple computer. (I am typing this on a Mac Pro)
  2. Use a computer with a Linux Operating System.
  3. Stay off of Facebook and Myspace. (No, it doesn’t matter that you “don’t click on anything”)
  4. Be VERY careful what you click on when searching, reading emails or using IM.
  5. Use our recommendations for AntiVirus / Internet Security.  We know what we’re talking about.  We disinfect dozens of computers a week.
  6. Keep your computer backed up every single day so you can restore the Operating System (and your data) in case of infection.

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Posted in Bad Things in General, Information, Malware, Viruses and Bugs Galore, News, Recommendations

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Are You Fortunate Enough to be Cancer-Free?

December 12th, 2009

Watching the local NBC Affiliate news program the other night, I saw this story about 12-year-old Leukemia patient, Jack Barker.  Jack discovered something as simple as a Snuggy can make all the difference to a kid stuck with a needle and a cold, liquid poison being pumped through his veins.  This brave little guy wants to raise enough money to give one of these simple solutions to every kid in the cancer ward at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.  Why not just the usual blanket?  Jack discovered the Snuggy not only keeps him warm, but gives him the freedom to use his hands for games, operating a computer or reading while being infused to treat his disease.  When the Snuggy company heard about his idea, they donated 100 of their products to his cause, but he needs a lot more.  As soon as I heard about his project, I felt compelled to donate some money to help.  It has always been my feeling that we should do whatever we can to make this world a better place, so something as simple as bringing some comfort to a child afflicted with a nasty disease seems like a no-brainer.  Seeing a story like this makes me grateful to not be dealing with what these kids are forced to endure.

If you are fortunate enough (or even if you’re not) to be cancer-free, Read Jack’s Blog to donate and make a difference this holiday season in a young child’s life.  A small thing for you may make a big difference to one of these kids fighting for their life.

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What About Windows 7?

December 10th, 2009

We are getting a lot of questions about Microsoft’s newest Operating System, Windows 7.  Seems everyone wants to know how it compares to it’s predecessor, the ill-fated and (arguably) worst Operating System ever turned loose on an unsuspecting public.  While a lot of people want to believe Win7 is a good product, they are gun-shy after being bitch-slapped with Vista on their last PC purchase (understandable to be sure).

In essence, Windows 7 is not a “New” OS, but rather, a re-manufactured version of Vista (essentially Vista with the warts shaved off and a shiny coat of paint applied).  Windows 7 was not engineered from scratch, but the long list of egregious, irritating sins of Windows Vista were purged from the guts (and surface) of the OS, resulting in a much prettier and better behaved OS.

We have installed Win7 on several machines here and even added a new Toshiba 16″ notebook with the 64-bit version to our stable of Forensics tools.  So… What do we think?

To relate a favorite anecdote: It is said an optimist fell off the 40th floor balcony of his apartment.  On his way down, people standing on lower balconies heard him say “So far, so good”.

And on that note: So far, so good.  Windows 7 is a LOT faster than every version of Vista that ever prowled, plundered and pillaged the digital landscape.  The installation is faster (by an order of magnitude) and it is a much friendlier OS after installation.  It appears Microsoft took some constructive criticism (read Hate Mail) seriously during the Vista debacle and the result is a much cleaner OS with a lot less nagging during normal use.  Win7 seems very stable and quick – and the interface for establishing Wi-Fi connections is very clever indeed.  All things considered we give Microsoft’s shiny new OS a hearty “Thumbs-Up”.

Keep in mind, we still do not recommend “upgrading” your OS to Win7.  Back up your data (NOT with Vista backup – read the blog on that mess) to an external drive and perform a new OS install on a formatted drive to rid your system of any trace of the dreaded Vista and you will have a much happier computer.  Win7 still has the same Plug and Play issue Vista had in that it doesn’t know anything about hardware or software that’s more than about 2-3 years old, so any Legacy programs or printers you are still using may require replacement if you go to Windows 7.  But we think you will really like the result…

Unless you have the 64 bit version of the OS.  It seems that Micro$oft still cannot get the whole 64 bit OS thing to work properly.  Our new Toshiba laptop came with the 64 bit version of Windows 7.  After a month of dealing with slow performance, software incompatibility (even some browsers would not install) and 5 minutes of searching and grinding to use any USB device plugged into this BRAND NEW LAPTOP – we “downgraded” it to the 32 bit version of Windows 7 (not with any help from Toshiba, by the way) and we have a beautifully functioning machine.

So…  While we DO feel good about recommending Windows 7 – there are caveats and you should consider all of them before settling on a Win7 computer.  You can still order XP-based machines from Dell and Toshiba if you want one.

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AVG 9 Antivirus Installation instructions

October 13th, 2009

This is posted in our blog because it is new and important information.  You can also find this on our Tips and Tricks page.

Last week, AVG released version 9 of their flagship Antivirus / Internet Security product and we have the installation recommendations published here to keep you out of trouble and infection free.

This is NOT the Internet Security installation  This is for AVG Antivirus (the version we recommend)  We do not recommend 3rd party firewall products due to problems with the notifications and questions posed by these products and problems associated with incorrect answers.

Start the AVG installation.

  • Select your language (assuming English as the default)
  • Click [Next]
  • Click the checkbox indicating you have read the agreement
  • [Accept]
  • Select [Custom Installation]
  • [Next]
  • Activate your AVG License
  • Paste or type in your license number in the bottom field
  • [Next]
  • Destination Folder: [keep the default]
  • [Next]
  • [Yes] to popup asking permission to create the directory
  • Component Selection:
  • Keep all selections + MS Office options if you are using Microsoft’s Office products
  • AVG Security Toolbar:
  • UNCHECK the infernal toolbar and send AVG an email about what a crappy thing it is to try and trick you into installing this nasty bit of Yahoo adware!
  • [Next]
  • Installing supplementary files:  Just wait until this completes…
  • Schedule regular scans and updates:
  • Keep updates at 4 hours
  • Daily scans: [Never]
  • [Check] Enable automatic scan of removable devices
  • [Next]
  • [Yes] to the nagware box about disabling daily scans (this just takes too blasted long)
  • Feel free to [Uncheck] the box regarding sending anonymous information to AVG – it’s not your job.
  • [Finish]
  • AVG Optimization Scan:
  • [Click] Optimize Scanning Now (wait for scan optimization to complete)

When scan completes, double-click the AVG icon on your desktop or system tray.

  • [Click] Update Now
  • Process all updates
  • Repeat until no new updates are found

Select [Tools] > [Advanced Settings] from the menu bar

  • Click the + next to [Scans]
  • Highlight “Scan whole computer”
  • Select “All file types”
  • Highlight [Shell extension scan]
  • Select “Scan system environment”
  • Select “Automatically heal…”
  • Highlight [Scan specific files or folders]
  • Select “All file types”
  • Highlight [Removable device scan]
  • Select “All file types”
  • Highlight [E-mail scanner]
  • Select “Check outgoing mail”
  • Highlight [Resident shield]
  • Select “Auto heal” and “Scan files on close”
  • Highlight [Advanced Settings] under Resident Shield
  • Select “Scan all files”
  • [Apply]

You’re finished.  AVG is properly configured for optimum protection.

We have disabled daily scanning, as this process takes over 2 hours and slows your computer to a crawl during scanning.

We recommend you manually perform a full scan once a week when the computer will not be used for 2-3 hours, but will be turned on.

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