I was recently introduced to Linux. I have always been a little scared of Linux because most of it has always been about knowing the Unix commands. The great thing about Linux is that there are many different flavors (ie distributions) and each was designed for a specific purpose. Most people have heard of Red Hat which was designed for server functions. Another very popular Linux distribution is called Ubuntu. This distribution was specifically designed for home PC use. After installing it a few times I started enjoying it quite a bit. It has good aesthetic attributes and seems to respond very well even with older hardware which makes it great for use on an old PC that you can’t run the new versions of Windows. It comes with Firefox and an email client that works pretty well. I would recommend it for anyone how comes upon a free PC or laptop that doesn’t have Windows with it.

The reason I bring all this up is because of a paper I wrote back in college. I was tasked with writing a paper about a future technology that had not been invented yet. I chose to write how someday hard drives will be a thing of the past and that everyone will have their own storage medium that can run their computer from any operable computer. I predicted that eventually people will be able to carry a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) device and from those would be able to use their computer. This is still not invented, but I believe it may be on its way. I recently visited http://www.pendrivelinux.com/ and found that you can install a non-persistent bootable version of Ubuntu on a USB drive. That means you can take your PC with you wherever you go and no matter which computer you have access. Just boot to the USB drive and you have access to all your files and emails.

Today I want to talk about scareware. Scareware, similar to Malware (short for malicious software) is designed to scare you into thinking your computer is infected. These type of infections are no longer restricted to porn surfers or users that download pirated software.

Typically, scareware will pop up on your screen in the form of a realistic looking “scan.” After a few moments you will be notified that you have hundreds of infections. This is intended to scare the user into interacting with the program to “remove” the infections. If you click the remove button you will generally be shown a window that states that most of the “infections” have been removed but for the remaining few you will need to upgrade to the professional version of the program. The average user will get their credit card out and this is when the real problem starts. You give your credit card information to pay for the $29, $39 or $49 professional version.

Your computer has been infected with viruses. You have given out your credit card number and have payed a sum of money. Now that the attacker has your card info, they can go shopping. In return, the professional version of the software is actually more viruses. Nice huh?

Make yourself familiar with your anti virus software. Learn how it looks. If you see anything pop up that says it is scanning your computer and the message did not originate from your anti virus software, immediately click the X and close the program. Do not click anywhere else, interact with the program in any way, or download any add-ons or plug ins without first searching for it on Google to see if it is legitimate.

-Brian Hamilton

B-Tech Computer Repair

http://www.btechpcrepair.com

I was recently on my wife’s laptop surfing the web when all of a sudden spyware popped up on the screen. I never figured out where it came from but it was there. I opened my anti spyware software and attempted to run updates but it failed (probably due to the spyware). I knew I could go online to get definition updates so I opened Internet Explorer but it would not open any websites. I thought for sure I would have to wipe the laptop after that happened. Fortunately I had a second web browser, Mozilla Firefox. I opened that browser and was able to get to any website so I got my definitions for my anti spyware. I was then able to remove the spyware and was able to get to websites in Internet Explorer again.

My suggestion after all this is that you should ALWAYS have a backup web browser. A few of note are: Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera, and Google Chrome.

I have been seeing more and more of my customers still using their 5+ year old computers and laptops. This has it’s ups and downs because the manufacturers are actually making quality products however parts are becoming more scarce for those machines thus driving up the cost to fix them.

It seems that the first thing to go is the hard drive. Either you start seeing Windows S.M.A.R.T errors or your Windows installation becomes unstable or corrupt due to bad sectors. It is still possible to retrieve the data when this happens, but I will say it again: have a backup of a backup of a backup.

It is usually random other things that start going wrong (i.e. video card BSODs, virtual memory messages, random reboots from hardware driver issues, etc.)

With Windows 7 out now I would suggest to most of my customers that it is nearly time for an upgrade. Hardware is pretty cheap right now and with the economy the way it is a lot of places are trying to nearly give away decent computers and laptops. Frequently look through hole-in-the-wall computer fix-it joints to see if they have any refurbished computers or laptops with decent specs. Make sure to do your research on what to look for (http://www.laptopadvisor.com/)

If you have an aging computer and you live in the Hiram, Georgia area then please either email me or call me with your questions.

Why is it possible to burn an ISO file to a CD or DVD but not to a USB drive? Well, actually you can! I recently found software that will mount the ISO and copy the files to the USB drive and also makes the USB drive bootable. Now instead of having to burn CDs you’ll never use again you can just go and get a 1GB flash drive and you can use it again and again without degrading the drive unlike a rewritable CD or DVD. The software is called unetbootin. The software comes pre-configured to automatically find about 50 different bootable types of software including operating systems, live anti virus CDs, hard drive management, etc… It does require internet access to download the software first and then it burns to the flash drive. The only con about the software is that it takes a long time compared to burning a CD or DVD.

One thing that many people worry about are their personal files just vanishing one day if their hard drive bites the dust. Most people go out and purchase a flash drive or an external hard drive and back up all their files. The only problem is the fact that it is an expense. When money gets tight, free is the best price.

I recently came across a website offering 2GB of free space to back my files up. This was fantastic because I love free technology stuff, but also because this ensures that even if the remote hard drive I am backing my files up to dies their technology will still be able to recover all my files. The downside to backing up your files to an external drive, or flash drive, is that if your main HD and your external HD could both go bad, and lose your flash drive, then you would be without any files. Another great thing about this website is that you can access your files from any computer that has an internet connection.

The website is http://www.idrive.com/. When you sign up you automatically get 2GB for free. However, you could get up to 10GB if you put in your email info and SPAM the people in your friends list. If you don’t feel comfortable with that go create a new email address that has no contacts and use that. Easy peasy!

If you have a green thumb then you might want to get involved with this. Computers and other technological waste is on the rise because of the surge in home PCs about 10 years ago. All those PCs more than likely are either sitting in an attic or basement or in a landfill. There are a growing number of PC and technology recycling places so just do a Google search for your closest one. Office depot has a recycling program but they charge you per box of stuff you bring in.

Get ready for it! You may not even know about it yet but it is out there. Virutalization has been around for a couple of years now and is building momentum. Microsoft is already gearing end users up for it by implementing their new “XP Mode” inside of Windows 7. Virtualization just means that you run another operating system inside of the operating system that you booted into when you turned your computer on. Currently this is a huge push for it on the server side of computing but it will soon be targeting home users.

While it may not make since to use it at home for the common user there are many practical uses for it. Say you upgrade your home PC or laptop before your work laptop and you need to use software on your home machine that is not compatible with Windows 7. Just use the “XP Mode” (a virtual machine) to run the software. It is also good vice versa.

There are several companies offering virutalization. You can use the VMWare player and the Sun Virtualbox for free. You will need a product key on operating systems that require it.

Have a few old flash drives laying around? Well now you can make use of them. Go to www.portableapps.com and download the executable. Plug in your flash drive and run the install. Once you have finished you flash drive will be transformed into something very useful. You can run anti-virus software, game, email, the whole Open Office Suite, anti-spyware, and just about anything else you can find a portable version of.

Amazon.com is offering the Windows 7 Professional upgrade for a discounted $99 and the Home Premium version for only $49 through July 11th, 2009.