As stated in a recent article from Maximum PC,

If it’s too good to be true, if it looks strange, or if it’s completely unknown to you, don’t run it.  Don’t install it.  Don’t accept it, don’t hit “yes” to it, and don’t let it get anywhere near your system.  Google, or Bing, or Yahoo is your friend: Find more information about a given situation or software before you agree to let it do anything on your system.  Don’t surf the Internet blindly and assume that everything on a Web site is safe for your system to digest.

First, make sure you follow the steps I’ve outlined here.  Remember to keep your internet browser updated, as well as running Microsoft Update, assuming you’re running a Windows operating system.

As the title of this article states, here is also a list of free utilities I use to prevent and fight malware from my own systems, as well as the systems of clients.

• Microsoft Security Essentials
• MVPS Hosts File
• CCLeaner
• Rkill
• Malwarebytes

Again, these utilities are for computers running some version of Windows.  I won’t go into a how-to for each of these utilities, as the utilities’ authors have provided this information on each of their sites.  Some of these utilities offer a paid “premium” version, and they may ask if you want to try the premium version for a limited time during the install process and periodically during use of the free version.  I always stick with the free version and decline any trials for their premium software, but that choice is up to you.

1: Social Hacks

Problem

If you haven’t heard of this method, you’re not alone. While “social hacking”, or “social engineering”, may not be talked about often, it is the biggest computer security weakness out of any on this list. Why? Through social hacking, your sensitive personal information may literally be handed to the bad guys, even if you have all the latest and greatest security software installed.

Social hacking happens when a malicious person makes the unsuspecting victim do something voluntarily. For example, you may receive an e-mail that looks like it comes from your bank asking for personal information. When you click on the link in the e-mail, the web site you are taken to looks like the legitimate bank’s web site. You fill in the requested information and submit. You may think the bank is the recipient, but instead it could be an identity thief. Congratulations, you are now a victim of social engineering. You can find out more information about social engineering at Wikipedia.

Solution

As you may have guessed, this is also the hardest computer vulnerability to remedy. There is no software solution to fix User Error. A few things you can do to minimize your vulnerability is:

Stay alert to the current types of social engineering.

Never click on hyperlinks in e-mail that require personal information. Type the company’s address manually into your browser to log into your account to take the requested action.

Don’t give out personal information unless you can verify the identity of the person requesting the info.

2: Windows/Microsoft Update

Problem

For those who use Windows (82% of you). The Windows operating system has come a long way. With its success comes the unwanted attention of those who spend the time to find exploitable holes in Windows. In order to stay on top of plugging these holes, Windows needs to be updated regularly.

Downloading and installing the regular critical updates that Microsoft publishes should be made routine.

Solution

Go to Windows Update and at least do the express update. Better yet, set your computer to Auto Update at a regular time. You can access this option by right-clicking on My Computer and selecting Properties. In Windows XP, go to the AutoUpdate tab and set your options. In Windows 7, click on Windows Update under “See also” on the lower left, and then click on Change Settings on the left.

3: Spyware and Popups

Problem

Do a dozen windows pop up when you access the internet? You may have a spyware and popup problem. These two “malware” go together because one usually causes the other. When you visit a malicious web site, a popup may infect your computer with spyware without you knowing it. Once you have spyware on your computer, it may install other spyware and generate more popups. And the vicious cycle continues.

Solution

If you are already infected, there are ways to rid the spyware from your computer. I recommend Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to rid computers of spyware.

I would recommend installing and updating first, and then running Anti-Malware in Safe Mode. To access safe mode in Windows, hold down the F8 key while booting, and then follow the prompts. If you are still having problems or want more info, go to mvps.org

If you would like to prevent further infections of spyware, I would recommend using a modified HOSTS file. My favorite is from mvps.

4: Viruses and Worms

Problem

I’m pretty sure I don’t need to explain the problem for this security issue.

Solution

The free solution I use is Microsoft Security Essentials. Don’t forget to update it after installation! This free software made the Maximum PC list of top anti virus software again with a score of 8 out of 10.

If you prefer a more feature rich, paid security solution, you may want to try BitDefender Internet Security 2011.

5: Firewall

Problem

Programs, especially malicious software, will try to use your internet connection to phone home for various reasons. Without a firewall, you are allowing any program on your computer to use the internet, unrestricted. This could include viruses, worms or spyware.

Solution

A firewall can be used as a security guard. You tell the security guard who can get in and out of your computer using your internet connection. For Windows XP, I recommend using Zonealarm. It will keep track of all programs that have asked for internet access, along with the permissions for each program. When a program tries to reach the internet, Zonealarm will ask you to allow or deny the program internet access. This way, if you see a suspicious program trying to access the internet, just deny access. Then you can investigate what the program is using Google, use Microsoft Security Essentials to remove the program if it is a virus, or uninstall the unnecesary program.

For Windows 7, I recommend using the built in Windows Firewall with Microsoft Security Essentials installed. The Windows 7 firewall does a great job and can be setup similar to Zonealarm with settings for individual program access to the internet.

6: Internet Connection

Problem

Do you like sharing your internet connection with strangers? I didn’t think so. So let’s get your wireless connection secured.

If you have a router but it is not wireless, you should still update your firmware. The latest updates could give your router more security options.

If you don’t have a router, you can skip this section. If you don’t know what a router is, look here. A router is basically a device you use to share your internet connection among several computers.

Solution

The first thing to do is update the firmware on your router. You will have to go to the web site of your router’s manufacturer to find the latest firmware to download. Be sure to get the correct firmware for your router’s model. If your router is not wireless, the default settings should be fine. Skip to step 7 if you are using a non-wireless router.
Next, you will want to secure the router’s wireless settings. Use WEP if you must, but WPA and WPA2 are much stronger encryption methods. Go to your router’s wireless settings tab and set the router’s encryption to WPA2. The WPA2 secured wireless network requires a password be entered for each new computer that connects to the network. I use a random key generator to generate an extremely strong password for the wireless connection. This key should be entered as the router’s WPA password. Save the key in a text file on a usb thumb drive to easily add additional wireless computers and laptops to the secured wireless network.

WPA2 is going to be almost full proof for at least another couple years. The next thing is to change your SSID. This is the name of your wireless network. This is done, not necessarily for security, but just to make sure you can easily connect to your wireless network in case your neighbor has the same model router and didn’t change their SSID.

That’s all you really need to do to secure your network. Find out more about wireless encryption here.

For example, you could create a new folder and name it

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

or

Ultimate Control Panel.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

You can use the GodMode Control Panel to perform the tasks under the following sections:

• Action Center
• Administrative Tools
• AutoPlay
• Backup and Restore
• BitLocker Drive Encryption
• Color Management
• Credential Manager
• Date and Time
• Default Programs
• Desktop Gadgets
• Device Manager
• Devices and Printers
• Display
• Ease of Access Center
• Folder Options
• Fonts
• Getting Started
• HomeGroup
• Indexing Options
• Internet Options
• Keyboard
• Location and Other Sensors
• Mouse
• Network and Sharing Center
• Notification Area Icons
• Parental Controls
• Performance Information and Tools
• Personalization
• Phone and Modem
• Power Options
• Programs and Features
• Recovery
• Region and Language
• RemoteApp and Desktop Connections
• Sound
• Speech Recognition
• Sync Center
• System
• Taskbar and Start Menu
• Troubleshooting
• User Accounts
• Windows CardSpace
• Windows Defender
• Windows Firewall
• Windows Update

In any event, I took my Windows 7 Professional Upgrade DVD and started the process of installation on a fresh drive. Upon the first appearance of the activation window, I entered my product key and tried activation. Windows responded that the key was invalid. No matter, this actually happened the first time I installed my copy of Windows 7 back in October, so I knew I could bypass this screen by deleting the product key and pressing enter. I would have 30 days to reenter my product key and activate Windows.

A few days later after reinstalling all my programs and getting the system configured, I tried activating again. And again. And again. I tried other methods to no success after being on hold with Microsoft phone support for longer than I cared.

That’s when I stumbled onto this method of activating Windows 7 that I had not seen before. I don’t know the original source, but I obtained the below instructions from mydigitallife.info.

Clean Install and Activate Windows 7 with MediaBootInstall Registry Hack

1. After booting up, ensure that no Windows Updates pending task which requires a system reboot to finish installing.Tip: Normally, an orange-colored shield icon will be displayed next to Shutdown button in the Start Menu Power Button or at notification tray area if a restart is required. If reboot is required, restart the computer to allow any pending updates is installed.
2. Run Registry Editor (RegEdit).
3. Navigate to the following registry key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\OOBE
4. In the right pane, change the value data for MediaBootInstall from 1 to 0. Leave the base as Hexadecimal.
5. Open an elevated command prompt as administrator.
6. Run the command below to reset Windows 7 activation status:
   slmgr.vbs -rearm
7. Reboot the computer.
8. Run the Activate Windows utility (accessible from bottom section of Control Panel -> System and Security -> System, or type Activate Windows into Start Search), type in the upgrade product key and activate Windows.

The author of this site has created a free utility that will unlock the standard speed of your video chipset.  I say the “standard” speed because these netbooks are assembled with the video chipset underclocked.  I installed the software on my ASUS Eeepc 1000HE netbook and it improved the video capabilities noticeably.

Be sure to check if the software for your video chipset is available for download, and consider donating to the author so he can develop further GMABooster software for other GMA chipsets.

I should have my full price list for all my services in the next few days. In the meantime, if you are itching to get your computer fixed now, just give me a call, or you can request service by sending an e-mail to alfred@askdoctorcomputer.com. If you are looking for my phone number on this web site, please make an initial appointment with me by e-mail.

Appointments for in home service or remote service will be on weekends only. Appointments for drop off service is available for most days. There is a one week minimum turnaround for drop off service.

If you have any suggestions for now while I get everything organized, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment below.

Thanks!

alfred@askdoctorcomputer.com

Don’t worry, you are not actually missing 50 GB. Many people seem a little confused to where the 50 gigabytes go. Some people think that it has to do with formatting the hard drive, or that there is some special area that the hard drive is not suppose to use. While this may be partly true, the answer is actually right on the box or paper insert of most retail hard drives. The label says something like, “One gigabyte, or GB, equals one billion bytes when referring to hard drive capacity. One terabyte, or TB, equals 1,000 gigabytes when referring to hard drive capacity. Accessible capacity may vary depending on operating environment and formatting.”

Taken from Wikipedia,

Most operating-system tools report capacity using the same abbreviations but actually use binary prefixes. For instance, the prefix mega-, which normally means 106 (1,000,000), in the context of data storage can mean 220 (1,048,576), which is nearly 5% more. Similar usage has been applied to prefixes of greater magnitude. This results in a discrepancy between the disk manufacturer’s stated capacity and the apparent capacity of the drive when examined through most operating-system tools. The difference becomes even more noticeable for a gigabyte (7%), and again for a terabyte (9%). For a petabyte there is a 11% difference between the SI (1000^5) and binary (1024^5) definitions. For example, Microsoft Windows reports disk capacity both in decimal-based units to 12 or more significant digits and with binary-based units to three significant digits. Thus a disk specified by a disk manufacturer as a 30 GB disk might have its capacity reported by Windows 2000 both as “30,065,098,568 bytes” and “28.0 GB”. The disk manufacturer used the SI definition of “giga”, 109 to arrive at 30 GB; however, because Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and some Linux distributions use “gigabyte” for 1,073,741,824 bytes (230 bytes), the operating system reports capacity of the disk drive as (only) 28.0 GB.

What this means is that the drive manufacturers are using the standard definition of the prefixes kilo, mega, giga, etc (multiples of 10), whereas the operating systems use the same prefixes, but are calculating based on powers of 2. Operating systems define a kilobyte as 1024 bytes, a megabyte as 1024 kilobytes (or 1,048,576 bytes), a gigabyte as 1024 megabytes (or 1,073,741,824 bytes) and so on. SO, here is what is happening to the 750 GB hard drive in the example above:

750 GB = 750,000,000,000 bytes according to the manufacturer. To the manufacturer, and the international standard definition for prefixes, a gigabyte is 10^9 bytes. Since the drive actually contains 750,000,000,000 bytes, the operating system takes the total bytes and divides by 2^30, which is the binary definition of giga. 750,000,000,000 divided by 2^30 is 699 GB. Another way to look at this is the operating system could report the drive as 732,421,875 KB (750,000,000,000 divided by 1024) or 715,256 MB (750,000,000,000 divided by 1024 twice).

As far as the formatting or special no-use area of the hard drive, formatting methods (FAT, NTFS, EXT3, HFS+) does have some small effect on the final drive capacity. There are also some no-use areas of the hard drive that are only used in certain circumstances, but that is a subject for another article.

So your 50 GB isn’t missing, it’s still there. Your hard drive capacity is just being reported using different units.

ZoneAlarm Fix

Microsoft Update KB951748 is known to cause loss of internet access for ZoneAlarm users on Windows XP/2000. Windows Vista users are not affected.

Microsoft Update KB951748 – Workaround to Sudden Loss of Internet Access Problem

If you are not interested to read the full article, here’s how to fix this issue.

1. Stop ZoneAlarm by right clicking the system tray icon and selecting “Shutdown ZoneAlarm”
2. Download and install the latest free version here. If you don’t use the free version, please visit ZoneAlarm.com and download the appropriate software.
3. Restart your computer when prompted and your internet connection should be fixed.

MP4Cam2AVI

MP4Cam2AVI is MPEG4/MJPEG to AVI converter/joiner for MPEG-4 camcorders and digital photo cameras. It makes MPEG-4 camera clips DivX/XviD compatible and playable with any DVD-MPEG4 player like regular MPEG-4 movie.

MP4Cam2AVI – MPEG4/MJPEG to .AVI converter/joiner for digital cameras