MooreITHelp.com

Should I buy a new PC?

2018-08-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

For some time now, I have been making clients aware of the age of their computer and arguing the value of repairs. Usually, my personal rule of thumb is that you may want to debate repairing your computer if it is over ~5 years of age. In my experience, computers over that age tend to be at a higher risk of hardware failure. Further, the average price of today’s computers makes extensive repairs somewhat risky for the average consumer.

If in the event a client comes to me with a 6yr old PC which requires a new hard drive, I may suggest replacing the computer instead. Aside from the cost of the part, replacing the hard drive would necessitate reinstalling the Operating System and could include transferring the data from the old drive to the new one. That could add up pretty quickly, and I would hate to see the client come back a week later with something like a fried motherboard. When a computer is that old (as upsetting as that sounds), these days, it can make more sense to simply replace the PC.

Though today’s low prices is an almost inarguable factor, I recently decided to check with a few local pawn shops to see what I could get for an old PC. Surprisingly, these pawn shops ran on my same rule, except even more strict. They refused to buy any PC older than ~3 years. Their reason? “It’s more likely that we could run into hardware issues.” Replacing the PC helps to ensure the continued reliability of parts and would also grant the added bonus of a one year (or more) warranty through the manufacturer.

Additional Misconceptions In The Tech World

2018-02-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

#1: If your computer is working fine right now, it does not need any maintenance.

I don’t think people really think this, but I find that people often will not have their computer worked on until it’s too late. If everything is working fine, I won’t get a call. There are several maintenance checks that should be done regularly. Not only should this be considered preventative maintenance, but during this Tune-Up Process, a technician can notice things that most people wouldn’t.

Lack of system maintenance is one of the most common causes of data loss and/or heavy computer repair bills.

#2: The maintenance tools provided in the Microsoft Operating System and software are all the maintenance you need.

This is a common and terrible misconception, similar to the idea that any antivirus program is fine as long as you have something. Microsoft doesn’t even come close to providing the programs and features which can protect your data from viruses, hackers and data loss or prevent your PC from running slowly.

Additionally, Microsoft (and other software vendors for that matter) are constantly providing critical patches and updates to their software to protect you from viruses and hackers. However, if you don’t know to look for them, or if you don’t know how to install them properly, you could easily end up getting burned.

#3: My nephew/neighbor’s kid/brother-in-law knows this computer stuff and can help me solve my problems.

This one is actually my favorite because it gets me more business! Jokes aside, not all technicians are created equal, and I have run into countless machines which have clear residue from past tinkering. Just because a person is good with computer applications (what we call a power user) does NOT mean they know how to properly maintain a PC or complex networks. Technicians also need to be well versed in the latest tech to ensure that you are not only getting the most for your money, but that everything you are using is statistically rated the most reliable. Reputable programs change all the time, and I know of many “technicians” who are using the same programs and processing that they have been using for 10+ years.

Most people look for a part time “guru” to help them save money, but this often comes back to haunt them. If the person you have working on your machine is not a licensed technician by trade, it is almost a certainty that they don’t have the knowledge and experience to help you in an effective and reliable manner. Technology advances at lightning speed and it takes constant learning and practice to master it. If your part-time technician is not working on PCs and networks every day, they probably only know enough to be dangerous.

#4: All computer technicians are created equal. Your best option will be the one who offers the lowest price.

For the most part, you get what you pay for. I have gained many regular clients who, when I first met them, had several cheap computers that all needed serious work done. Instead, I usually replace these computers with one or two good, middle of the road machines. Just as with computers, if the technician is the cheapest, it could just mean that they have no idea what they are doing. When it comes to your tech world, the cheapest anything could end up costing you time and money.

PC Maintenance Misconceptions

2017-09-09T17:30:00.000-07:00

Through aggressive marketing, scare tactics and misinformation, many programs and practices have found their way into self proclaimed, mandatory parts of routine PC maintenance. Most of the time, however, they are just a waste of time and money. Further, they distract from what is actually important, which in my opinion, makes them harmful to your tech world.

I addressed Registry Cleaners a few years back in http://mooreithelp.blogspot.com/2011/12/registry-cleaners-good-or-bad.html But they are so popular and so bad that I’d like to touch upon them once again real quick;

The Windows registry is basically a huge database of settings, both for Windows itself and for programs. When you uninstall a program, there’s a good chance that all its registry entries are left behind. A Registry Cleaner will usually simply look for Registry entries that appear unnecessary and remove them. Registry cleaner companies want you to believe that this would result in big performance improvements so you’ll buy their software.

Though many users swear by the difference in system performance before and after running a registry cleaner, you will not find any reputable benchmarks or testing which irrefutably show the advantages to registry cleaning. You will, however, find reputable sources recommending against the use of these softwares, even going on to say that they are more likely to cause damage to your system than help in any way. One source being Microsoft themselves – the people who made your registry hive. (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2563254/microsoft-support-policy-for-the-use-of-registry-cleaning-utilities)

Then there’s paid maintenance programs such as Iolo’s System Mechanic. These programs use graphics and wording to give the user a warm fuzzy feeling, delaying inspection by licensed technicians. This means that the real problems with your computer will pile up, creating a larger bill in the end. I cant count how many computers I have encountered with programs like Webroot and System Mechanic installed that end up needing a ton of work done. These programs are heavily lobbied and aggressively advertised as essential pieces of owning a computer. If you attempt to research the software through unbiased articles, you will find that the first few pages of Google results are from the manufacturer of said software, showing aggressive SEO strategies. I was, however, able to find this one. The truth is, most of the features of these paid programs are already a part of Windows and/or can be done better by free programs. Further, many reputable programs designed for technicians will actually register the aforementioned maintenance tools as PUPs – Potentially Unwanted Programs (non-malware). This basically means that they advise the use of these softwares only at your own risk. These facts in themselves should make anyone skeptical of using said softwares.

Maintenance programs should be used by professionals, anyway. Reputable PC maintenance or anti-malware programs can misconstrue parts of valid programs as malicious. The program will usually present the user with the scan results, giving them the opportunity to check which items should not be deleted. However, a user is far more likely to simply click through all the dialogue boxes until the program is finished, let alone be familiar with the registry keys and files the program is claiming are malicious. Further, a good deal of the program’s potential goes unused due to the user’s unfamiliarity with how to properly use the program, or what the program is even doing.

Driver updaters are another thing I have come across quite often, to my surprise.
These programs are amazingly unnecessary and can definitely cause harm to the system, mostly for the aforementioned reasons. These programs will quite often incorrectly replace critical drivers, causing Blue Screens as well as general odd behavior. And once again, Windows already does this for you through Windows Updates!

Many people also seem to be under the impression that any Antivirus or Internet Security program is fine, and are nonplussed to find that they have become infected regardless. No Antivirus or Internet Security program is completely infallible. However, it is a step in the right direction to go with what is statistically rated the best, not necessarily the cheapest. Further, these programs change all the time, going from best to worst in only a few years.

Basically, this all boils down to – if you want to maintain your PC, bring it to a technician every 3 – 6 months. They are trained and have the experience to look for the right things and how to fix them properly. Also, you can blame them if something goes wrong 😊

Hard Drive Recovery, Click of Death

2017-06-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

So, remember that time your hard drive was making noises and wouldnt work and instead of bringing it to a pro, you thought you would try a few things yourself? This is the result.

Whenever you hear odd noises coming from the drive, it more than likely means the heads are stuck and/or grinding against the platters (where all your data is stored).

This drive was used as it began to fail. When it finally failed, the user continued to try to plug it in and get it started in different ways. Unwilling to spend the money for recovery, they opted to dispose of the drive so I decided to open it up and see how bad it was.

Aside from the obvious physical damage to the platters seen in the picture, the drive was also filled with black dust - Grinded down platter powder. This drive cannot be recovered.

The next time your drive makes noises or begins to act strangely - turn it off and call a pro.

You can check out my latest reviews HERE!

Help@MooreITHelp.com

MooreITHelp.com

617-396-7044

Verizon Users - DO NOT switch to AOL

2017-03-15T12:26:00.000-07:00

Along with Yahoo, AOL has also been on my list of domains to avoid and it too has been the victim of several data breaches. Its interface is more loaded than a Chinese newspaper, with so many windows, marketing ads and clickbate, just trying to check your email becomes an attack on the senses. Aside from that, its users have been on the unfortunate receiving end of such a hackneyed stereotype of being aged troglodytes for so long that it seems even AOL itself has begun to pray upon this potential vulnerability;

Upon using the website or the AOL Desktop program, the user will find several mycleanpc-esque ads that are actually from AOL. Aside from this blatant use of scare-tactics pertaining to issues which have been debunked again and again, a class action lawsuit was filed against AOL in 2012 regarding Support.com and AOL's Computer Checkup software, which used software developed by Support.com. The software was reported to often claim illegitimate problems with users' computers and would then offer to sell them software to fix the plethora of non-existent problems —for which AOL allegedly charged $4.99 a month and Support.com $29. Both AOL, Inc. and Support.com, Inc. settled on May 30, 2013 for $8.5 million.

Being that Google's top related search suggestions when researching AOL is "Does anyone still use AOL", "Do AOL email addresses still work" and "Does AOL still exist", it would become apparent pretty quickly that AOL is not exactly the top choice of email service providers. Knowing of how god-awful their service is as a whole, AOL has been known to ignore clients’ demands to cancel service and have also been known to send out reoccurring bills which clients never needed to pay before. The New York Attorney General's office began an inquiry of AOL's customer service policies, revealing that the company would actually reward employees who purported to retain subscribers. I have actually had several clients who would receive monthly small bills from AOL and never knew why. Due to the small amount and the client assuming it was something they needed in order to use their computer, they would often just pay these bills and never question it. That is, until I would come along and find that they were pretty much paying for nothing or that they didn't even use any of AOL's services anymore.

I wanted to provide a concise source of information for those who are still using these services and could never get a straight answer as to why they shouldn't. It seems like a lot of people have been told that they shouldn't use these services, but not by those armed with any useful, compelling information. "Because, I mean, just look at it!" isn't a good reason for someone to uproot from something they feel is tried and true. Further, most of these users, if not all, are under the impression that they are so invested in the service that they could never leave - that all of their contacts, emails, and future emails would be lost. Though AOL and Yahoo would really like you to continue believing that, even taking steps to make it a rather needlessly irritating process to move on - I can tell you from experience that it is not only possible, but relatively painless. For you, anyway. For me, well....That's what I get paid for.

Like I Said, Yahoo is Terrible

2016-12-17T11:25:00.000-08:00

For several years now, I have been attempting to steer clients clear of Yahoo and anything related to Yahoo. Aside from the irritating interface of frames buried within more frames covered in ads, Yahoo has had several security breaches over the years, losing well over 1,600,000,000 usernames and passwords in total. At its peak, Yahoo was once worth over one hundred billion dollars before being bought out by Verizon for a mere 4.8 billion.

Yahoo officially solidified its position as one of the worst protectors of user data on Wednesday when they revealed in a press release that data from more than one billion user accounts had been stolen in 2013. This is separate from the breach which occurred in September, when it was announced that 500 million accounts had been compromised.

Having warned one of my clients for several years on his business’s use of Yahoo email accounts, I finally received the inevitable call when emails had been sent out from his account which he did not send. This particular hack resulted in some pretty specific emails being sent to people on his contacts list requesting things such as account numbers and wire transfers. Being that it was coming from his email address, users on his contacts list assumed the honesty and accuracy of the request and granted the hacker the information they requested.

I am now assisting my client in not only purchasing and setting up a proper domain name, but an email account for the aforementioned, and moving all contacts and emails from his Yahoo account to his new account. I have also set up a secure forwarder so that he does not miss any emails over the next few months before completely cutting Yahoo off.

AOL has also been on my list of domains to avoid and it too has been the victim of several data breaches. Its interface is more loaded than a Chinese newspaper, with so many windows, marketing ads and clickbate, just trying to check your email becomes an attack on the senses. Aside from that, its users have been on the unfortunate receiving end of such a hackneyed stereotype of being aged troglodytes for so long that it seems even AOL itself has begun to pray upon this potential vulnerability.

Upon using the website or the AOL Desktop program, the user will find several mycleanpc-esque ads that are actually from AOL. Aside from this blatant use of scare-tactics pertaining to issues which have been debunked again and again, a class action lawsuit was filed against AOL in 2012 regarding Support.com and AOL's Computer Checkup software, which used software developed by Support.com. The software was reported to often claim illegitimate problems with users' computers and would then offer to sell them software to fix the plethora of non-existent problems —for which AOL allegedly charged $4.99 a month and Support.com $29. Both AOL, Inc. and Support.com, Inc. settled on May 30, 2013 for $8.5 million.

Being that Google's top related search suggestions when researching AOL is "Does anyone still use AOL", "Do AOL email addresses still work" and "Does AOL still exist", it would become apparent pretty quickly that AOL is not exactly the top choice of email service providers. Knowing of how god-awful their service is as a whole, AOL has been known to ignore clients’ demands to cancel service and have also been known to send out reoccurring bills which clients never needed to pay before. The New York Attorney General's office began an inquiry of AOL's customer service policies, revealing that the company would actually reward employees who purported to retain subscribers. I have actually had several clients who would receive monthly small bills from AOL and never knew why. Due to the small amount and the client assuming it was something they needed in order to use their computer, they would often just pay these bills and never question it. That is, until I would come along and find that they were pretty much paying for nothing or that they didn't even use any of AOL's services anymore.

I wanted to provide a concise source of information for those who are still using these services and could never get a straight answer as to why they shouldn't. It seems like a lot of people have been told that they shouldn't use these services, but not by those armed with any useful, compelling information. "Because, I mean, just look at it!" isn't a good reason for someone to uproot from something they feel is tried and true. Further, most of these users, if not all, are under the impression that they are so invested in the service that they could never leave - that all of their contacts, emails, and future emails would be lost. Though AOL and Yahoo would really like you to continue believing that, even taking steps to make it a rather needlessly irritating process to move on - I can tell you from experience that it is not only possible, but relatively painless. For you, anyway. For me, well....That's what I get paid for.

MyCleanPC Revisited

2016-11-03T10:08:00.001-07:00

A few years back, I decided to take the time to look into the much talked about MyCleanPC program. As expected, the program turned out to be a huge scam. Unfortunately, the company seems to not only still be in operation, but getting a hold of new customers.

Recently, a client of mine (who I hadn't heard from in awhile) called explaining various oddities and felt that his computer finally needed a good once over by a professional. Among other problems, I found the MyCleanPC program installed. I figured this would be a good opportunity to revisit the program to see if they had made any changes.

NOPE!

The program is still complete bunk.

This program, and programs like it, use standard scare tactics to trick users into purchasing unneeded software. Their website promises that “the full, paid version of the MyCleanPC software will attempt to remove issues found with your PC’s registry and hard drive, including removal of junk files, unneeded registry entries, Internet browsing traces, and fragmented portions of your hard drive.”

However, both this description and the literal functionality of this program only features abilities which Windows already has. This means that you would be paying for a poor imitation of what you already have.

MyCleanPC's "free diagnosis," simply provides an attempt to scare people into thinking their computers are in horribly dire straits and that MyCleanPC (or was it MaxMySpeed.com?) can fix it all for the low low price of $39.99.

After running a scan, you’ll see an alarming count of the number of problems on your computer. However, MyCleanPC creates the no doubt alarming results by:

Counting every browser cookie and history entry as a single issue.
Counting every temporary file as a single issue, no matter how tiny it is.
Considering invalid registry entries as issues, when it has been proven time and time again that this would not make a noticeable difference in performance and could even harm the functionality of the computer.
Counting every single little fragmented file as a single issue.

All of this works together to show the user a massive number in large red font, which is almost so ridiculously text book for scare tactics that I cant help but laugh out loud every time I see it.

I've said it before and nothing has changed;

If your computer is acting strangely - call a technician.

I'll even take a look at your computer remotely for free. Please take a moment to read some of my reviews HERE and do not hesitate to contact me directly at (617) 396-7044 with any questions or concerns.

Office Upgrade

2016-10-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

I have seen time and time again business both small and large struggling with old tech.

Though being sensibly frugal in business is arguably beneficial, the reason this methodology doesn’t work with technology is because technology moves too quickly. Where this issue really comes into play is the fact that the world moves with these advances in technology.

Just recently a client contacted me saying they were having a lot of trouble with their mail systems, receiving bounce backs among other issues. Upon calling their exchange host, the rep immediately said “Are they using Outlook 2007 or older?” I said yes, but I was a little surprised that this was the issue. Now my client is going to have to upgrade everyone to the latest version of Office.

Another client had backend systems that were so old that it would cost over $15,000,000 to get the office up to code and at least two weeks of down time until the system was up and running again. Past technicians notified the higher ups over the years, back when the amount to fix the problems was reasonable. But being that the CEO and other powers never wanted to spend the money in the past, these other technicians over the years were forced to kept the system running through jerry rigging with batch scripts and third party programs with no support. This only made things worse and eventually resulted in the system coming to a grinding halt before the company was forced to file for bankruptcy.

A Global Engagement Study collected data from nearly 5,000 full-time employees across 20 countries, working at companies with 250 or more personnel. Only 44% of employees said their company uses the latest technology to enable them to effectively perform in their role. That means that more than half of employees don't have the tech that they need to be successful at work. And just 38% said their company supports causes that are important to them.

To me, this is the Achilles heel for all corporations, especially in America. Cutting costs and not listening to employees who are dealing directly with clients must seem economically beneficial to the myopic suits, but the problem is that this only works in the short run.

Back when I was in high school, I worked at Staples as a technician. I don’t remember specifics, but I do remember the store being locked into ridiculous practices that benefited no one but were the demands of the seemingly blind higher ups. We had weekly meetings where the employees unanimously suggested must haves which were never granted. Today, it seems as though nothing has changed. The Easy Tech position is filled similarly to the way Home Depot moves employees around – when it is needed, regardless of the qualifications. I have met Easy Techs who admitted to me that they started at Staples as furniture associates and knew nothing about technology at all. They admitted that a program which resides on a corporate flash drive does everything for them, and the rest is actually done remotely by someone they don’t even know. The associates in question told me that they didn’t even know what company was remoting into these computers – they assumed it was Staples Corporate. Further, prices on simple tech parts have skyrocketed. I recently purchased a DVI cable, an item which is usually around $9 for ~$40 in store. Though they had cheaper ones online, this was the only cable available in the store. I returned it as soon as the one from Amazon came in the mail.

If you feel that your office isn’t running as it should, give me a call at 617-693-7044 or shoot me an email at Help@MooreITHelp.com. I can give you a free consultation and tell you what you need and what you don’t need.

iYogi is a scam.

2016-09-13T17:58:00.000-07:00

So this isn’t really new news, but I felt it deserving of my attention.

You may have heard of, or even have been a victim of iYogi “Technical Support”. Several clients have come to me with different stories, whether it be “This stupid iYogi thing won’t go away” or “No, I couldn’t possibly be infected because I am protected by iYogi.” So here’s the breakdown of what you need to know about iYogi without going into too much detail (because, believe me – there’s A TON of material on these guys).

iYogi is a remote tech support company based in Gurgaon, India which once provided end-user support for major tech companies like Dell and Microsoft. Avast, one of the companies iYogi provided support for, began receiving complaints from customers reporting that iYogi was using support calls to aggressively sell annual subscriptions by telling them their computers were compromised when, in fact, they weren't.

Since that time, iYogi has been sued by multiple organizations, individuals and even by the state of Washington for alleged illegal business practices to pressure consumers into buying unnecessary software. Dell, along with other major tech corporations have dropped them and Avast issued refunds to their customers and also jumped ship.

Many people have since received phone calls (usually from India) from people claiming they are from Microsoft to alert users that their computer is infected. They then try to gain remote access to your computer, and if you allow them, will proceed to tell you that your machine is riddled with infections.

I have had customers report that they have spent upwards of $200 with these phone calls before realizing it was a scam. Though these calls are not all from iYogi, they do participate in these aggressive, scareware-esque tactics.

Doing a Google search will yield (aside from a ton of fake websites that all redirect to iYogi’s page) a ton of negative press from both individuals and major businesses such as Consumer Affairs and several posts on the Norton forums regarding scams. According to many customers on the Norton forums site, iYogi is claiming to sell their services with Norton, implying a relationship between the companies and a sort of bundled deal. Norton officials have stressed on several occasions that they hold no relationship with the software.

Even before reading up on iYogi, I could tell that the software installed on my client’s computers was not to be trusted. This all really goes back to my articles on MyCleanPC and PCMatic, but the difference here is the tactics used to sell the same kind of software. These people are praying on innocent ignorance and borderline threatening people into buying their junk software.

So if you ever get a phone call out of nowhere from some angry Indian guy who says your computer is going to explode, call a technician. Call me at 617-396-7044 and check out my website at MooreITHelp.com

Samsung Support

2016-09-08T10:40:00.001-07:00

Keeping with the subject of my post on Microsoft Corporate Greed and the lack of quality in customer service these days, I've decided to share my recent pseudo-trolling of Samsung support.

I went to the Samsung Support Page looking for drivers for a Samsung laptop. Many manufactures have implemented a pretty awesome feature which allows the website to scan your system for the correct model number and sometimes even scan your system for appropriate out of date drivers. Samsung's website did not have this ability and it did not have a space for me to type in the serial number of the computer in question. Instead, the Samsung website gave a list of hundreds of model numbers for you to search through to find your system. Mine wasn't there. So I clicked the "chat now" button, figuring they could point me to the right driver page quickly.

Here is how well that went:

You are now chatting with 'Abhijit P'. The reference number for this chat is 4325958302.

Abhijit P: Hi, thank you for reaching out to Samsung technical support. How may I assist you?

Visitor: Need to find drivers for S/N:JBMW91RD104609H.

Abhijit P: Hello, I'll be glad to help you with the laptop driver information.

Abhijit P: What is the model number of your laptop? It is located at rear side/bottom side. The model number starts with NP or XE or DP.

Visitor: A S/N wouldn't be better?

Visitor: Okay, NP300E5C-A0DUS

Abhijit P: Thank you for the model number.

Abhijit P: It is not possible from my side to pull the information using the serial number.

Abhijit P: I'll help you with the Samsung SW update software download link, which will automatically download and install all the compatible driver for your laptop.

Visitor: Except the laptop in question doesn't have Ethernet or wifi drivers

Visitor: Soooo, ill need those first.

Abhijit P: Well, in this case the dedicated drivers are not available for your laptop model.

Visitor: How is that physically possible? Every computer on the face of the Earth has individual drivers.

It is at this point that I realized I wasn't going to get the support I needed and simply typed the Hardware ID of the WiFi card into Google. Within about 3 minutes, I had my wifi driver.....From the Samsung site.

Abhijit P: I understand your point.

Abhijit P: However, for your laptop model they are only available from Samsung SW update.

Abhijit P: You can download the this software on any other computer that has Internet connection.

Abhijit P: And enter your laptop model code to download the driver, then it will download the drivers and you can copy paste it in your laptop.

Abhijit P: Shall I help you with the download link?

Visitor: Sure.

Abhijit P: Once you click the link, it starts downloading automatically.

Abhijit P: http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/SW/201601/20160115093742317/SWUpdate_2.2.5.16.ZIP

Abhijit P: Is the link accessible?

Visitor: Hold on one second, please

Visitor: Could you tell me what this is?

Visitor: http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/DR/201210/20121022130058781/WLAN_Atheros_64bit_9.2.0.470.ZIP

*About a 5 minute pause*

Abhijit P: This is the WiFi driver.

Visitor: Aaaaaaand did you not just say that driver was not available?

*About a 10-15 minute pause*

Abhijit P: Just to confirm, where did you check if these are the compatible driver for your laptop?

Visitor: The Hardware ID matches

Visitor: And I just installed it

Visitor: and am now online

*About a 10-15 minute pause*

Abhijit P: Okay, great. However, we are not authorized to give different laptop models driver to another laptop.

Abhijit P: I hope you will understand,.

Abhijit P: You will also get the same file from SW Update.

Abhijit P: Is there anything else I can assist you with?

Visitor: ಠ_ಠ

Abhijit P: Could you please elaborate your last statement?

Visitor: ಠ_ಠ Srsly?

Abhijit P: I'll be glad to help you if you have any further questions for me.

Visitor: ಠ_ಠ Srsly?

Abhijit P: I will be right with you.

Abhijit P: I'm sorry for the delay. I'll be right with you.

Abhijit P: Do you have any further questions for me?

Visitor: ಠ_ಠ Srsly?

Abhijit P: I appreciate you efforts.

Abhijit P: Have a nice day!

Abhijit P: Thank you for chatting with Samsung Support. If you ever need to contact us in the future, please save and reference this chat transcript ID 4325958302.

Chat session has been terminated by the Samsung Agent.

God Damn It, Bing....

2016-08-04T09:25:00.001-07:00

Bing and I share a very love-hate relationship....

I said MINUS Baseball...MINUS!

Zepto Virus

2016-08-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

Terrible news shook the web the other day, as reports surfaced of a new ransomware virus circulating the web.

A new version of the infamous Locky ransomware has been unleashed upon users worldwide, affecting computers all across the globe from the USA to Mexico, Japan, Germany, and beyond. The unwelcome arrival of the new virus was first reported yesterday here and was later confirmed by another source.

It works like most ransomware does, seizing the files on a victim’s PC and encrypting them. Much like its predecessor, Locky, the new virus changes the name of the files to its own extension: .zepto, which is why it has now become known as the Zepto Virus.

Once the encryption process is complete, the virus then changes the desktop image to a ransom note, informing the affected user of the actions that had taken place and providing instructions as to how the victim can receive the decryption key. It also creates files with the same information in each of the encrypted folders titled “_HELP_instructions.html”.

The amount demanded by the hackers in exchange for the key is 0.5 Bitcoins, which is roughly the equivalent of $300; however, it is likely that that number will be substantially increased in the event large businesses or organizations are affected.

At this point, there is no known way of breaking the encryption, but cyber-security experts are already working on cracking the .Zepto code. As was the case with .locky, this new ransomware uses the strong RSA-2048 and AES-128 ciphers.

Users are advised to take extra precautions when browsing the web and especially when dealing with newly received emails. This is the way ransomware is most commonly distributed, so be especially critical towards spam emails, more so if they come with attached files.

If you have fallen victim to this rapidly spreading virus, it’s not advisable to give in to the hackers’ demands and pay the requested ransom. This practice is what stimulates the cybercriminals to continue with their illegal activities and there are no guarantees that you will receive any decryption key.

Reposted from http://www.tripwire.com/

PCMatic - Scam or Legit?

2016-07-25T17:50:00.002-07:00

PCMatic.com

As soon as I saw this commercial, I was instantly reminded of the MyCleanPC and/or MaxMySpeed programs. I wrote a blog entry about it awhile back and it has actually gotten quite a few hits: http://mooreithelp.blogspot.com/2012/07/mycleanpccom-scam-or-legit.html

I’ve been meaning to write something regarding all these programs which claim to magically and quickly fix all your computer problems. Not only do these programs usually cost half of what real Internet Security programs cost, they claim that they will even make repairs and tune up a computer, making it run faster than ever. Many of them, including PC Pitstop PC Matic, claim that you will “never get a virus again” which is impossible. These registry cleaners and optimizers claim to speed up your computer by finding and removing orphaned and corrupt registry entries that are responsible for slowing down system performance. Unfortunately, the fact is that there is no statistical evidence to back such claims. These advertisements are borderline scams intended to goad users into using an unnecessary and potential dangerous product. I would not trust any results such programs detect as problematic or needing repair nor recommend using the options to fix them.

The registry is a crucial component of Windows, storing information and settings for all hardware, software, users, and preferences - basically the makeup of the Windows Operating System, to a degree. So, these programs which can aggressively scan and make violent changes to this system can render the system inoperable. Some may argue that these registry cleaners are required for specific types of infections, and that is true. However, improperly removing registry entries can make the removal process more difficult if your computer becomes infected. Removing malware related registry entries before the infection is properly identified (and steps taken to remove said infection) can contribute to system instability and even make the malware undetectable to removal tools.

I could delve into benchmark testing and detailed explanations as to how PCMatic and programs like it are basically advertising bold faced lies, and how its promises and "features" are borderline impossible, but to be frank - its not worth it. This program is just like all the other magic wands. Quickly, if you are willing to dig around the PC Matic web site, you will eventually find information about Super Shield, the proprietary real-time technology component to PC Matic. That page goes into a little detail about their use of a "white list" approach in addition to a "black list". Not mentioned is the company's use and explanation of its heuristic and behavioral detection technology. Aside from the numerous complaints filed against the company, the vendor's website doesn't specifically say how the product “protects against modern security threats”. They also fail to tell customers that their product has high false positive rates.

Expecting results similar to the MyCleanPC.com scams, I didn’t bother to do a scan on a test system like I did in MyCleanPC.com - Scam or Legit. I did, however, find that someone did it for me and it was exactly as I expected. Joe53 of SpywareHammer.com reported that the program found hundreds of "bad" registry entries on his system (which was working perfectly well), that his system had TCP connection problems (when he had no internet connection problems), extreme fragmentation of his hard drive (despite his regular use of Diskeeper), identified his System Restore files as "junk files", and suggested he delete them and identified that all his internet settings (HTTP, TCP, DNS et.al.) as needing to be optimized (despite the fact that SpeedTest measurements showed his connection and ping times to be well within parameters.)

Now,

Many people are starting to say that most of the negative press is from several years ago and that PCMatic has been perfecting itself over the past 4 years or so. To that, I respond with this very same article. The fact remains that this is a PRODUCT that claims to fix all your computer problems! It's half the price of a traditional, reputable AV and yet claims that it will not only REPLACE your Antivirus program, but that you will never get a virus again! The features and claims are so ridiculously silly, its not even worth a detailed examination.

Symantec Norton presents Security Vulnerabilities to your Computer

2016-07-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

For some time now, I have recommended users to steer clear of Symantec products, namely Norton.
I remind clients that though no antivirus or internet security program is completely infallible, I have encountered literately dozens of computers which were riddled with infections whilst a fully updated, paid version of Norton sat there with a great big green check mark reassuring the user that everything is just peachy!

Well, recently my claims have been further justified when security researcher Tavis Ormandy of Google's Project Zero Security discovered major security flaws within several internet security programs including Symantec Norton and Symantec Endpoint Security - the security solution most major industries use such as United Bank of Switzerland, Walmart and the Home Depot.

Project Zero security researcher Tavis Ormandy said:

"These vulnerabilities are as bad as it gets. They don't require any user interaction, they affect the default configuration, and the software runs at the highest privilege levels possible.

In certain cases on Windows, vulnerable code is even loaded into the kernel, resulting in remote kernel memory corruption."

No user interaction is required to exploit this issue as just "emailing a file to a victim or sending them a link to an exploit is enough to trigger it," according to Ormandy. Ormandy also reports that "A quick look at the decomposer library shipped by Symantec showed that they were using code derived from open source libraries like libmspack and unrarsrc, but hadn't updated them in at least seven years."

The problems mentioned in the article (as well as others referencing the discoveries) are not isolated to Symantec products. While I was working at Staples back when I was still learning the trade, I remember management pushing us Electronics Associates to sell versions of Panda Antivirus - one of the many reasons I quit as I knew Panda was absolute trash. In March of this year, both the free and enterprise versions of Panda Antivirus would report files from the System32 folder as malware, leaving computers inoperable after reboot.This would often result in systems loosing the networking functions (among other things) so Panda, in its infinite wisdom, released an update to fix the problem to be deployed....over the network. Yeah.

Several issues with the popular Comodo Antivirus program were discovered this year, which included the bundling of the program "GeekBuddy". This program installs and starts a poorly protected VNC server. This disclosure is actually the "fixed" version of this program, as disclosures made in 2015 noted that the VNC server had no password at all.

Trend Micro, another popular antivirus program, bundled a password manager which would launch a local web server that listens for API commands from the internet, without a whitelist or same origin policy—effectively allowing remote code execution. In a message to Trend Micro, Ormandy stated that "Anyone on the internet can steal all of your passwords completely silently, as well as execute arbitrary code with zero user interaction. I really hope the gravity of this is clear to you, because I'm astonished about this."

Several other programs have been found to have similarly major vulnerabilities. If you are interested, you can check out the full article HERE. My point with all of this information is that, as with most technical decisions, it is critical to have someone by your side with the knowledge and skill to both help to prevent these things from happening to you and to take action when things go awry.
Check out my reviews HERE and please do not hesitate to contact MooreITHelp.com at Help@MooreITHelp.com.

Microsoft Tricks Users Into Upgrading to Windows 10

2016-06-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

After requesting assistance in configuring their computers after upgrading to Windows 10, I have had several customers claim that they did not agree to the upgrade to Microsoft's new OS of solid awesomeness. The customers said that they simply woke up one morning to find Windows 10 had been installed over night.

It turns out, Microsoft changed the Get Windows 10 dialogue box so that clicking the "X" to close the box caused the user to effectively agree to the scheduled upgrade to Windows 10, rather than dismiss the scheduled upgrade as had previously been the case. I was pretty surprised to discover this fact as it would put Microsoft in violation of its own user experience guidelines for developers on how to design dialog boxes. I am sure this will only exacerbate the conspiracy theories flying around the internet, but I too am wondering; Why all the effort? I mean, if it was just Windows 8 that was being so excitedly upgraded, then I would understand - Perhaps a big apology from Microsoft. But Windows 7 too? Windows 7 is tried and true! The "version 2.0" of XP, if you will.

Anyway,
I just thought I would publish this to let clients know - you werent imagining things and the upgrade wasn't your fault!

Microsoft Corporate Greed

2016-05-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

Large companies in this country are pretty infamous for leaving their customers feeling trapped and frustrated. For every company like Logitech or Amazon who manage to treat their customers well and earn their business, we as consumers are forced to interact with the likes of Verizon, Comcast, or Microsoft where we are treated like cattle by a company that is seemingly of the opinion that they are entitled to our wallets regardless of their behavior. Cable companies in particular are guilty of this. In a recent survey, Verizon managed to edge out their competition to garner the highest customer satisfaction rating among their peers at a lofty 70%. That is, by the very slimmest of margins, a C- grade. Comcast for comparison earned a 62% and Time Warner Cable a surreal 59% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/this-is-the-most-hated-company-in-america-2016-06-01). Customers are not alone in bearing the brunt of this complete disregard for anything other than profit margins – I’m sure many of us reading this article recall the recent debacle over the mass strikes Verizon struggled with as their own employees were simply fed up with being nickled and dimed and treated like property – just like us, their customers. A quick internet search reveals hundreds of photos of Verizon employees marching in the streets bandying signs contrasting stagnant wages and declining work conditions with soaring executive payouts. Right up there in the annals of experiments with callous disregard with Verizon is the perennial champion of arrogance, Microsoft.

Just recently, I was speaking with Microsoft Live Chat Support - something I have been finding myself doing quite often ever since Office 2013 came out. Long story short - the activation of the recent Microsoft Office products can be quite the pain and it seems as though Microsoft is attempting to steer clients away from the tried and true Product Key method of activation. With that, I have needed Microsoft's assistance on several occasions to help in activating products where either the program claims the key is "already in use", or the key is used with a different Microsoft account, or the user has innocently completely forgotten both the username and password to the appropriate Microsoft account.

Microsoft's Live Chat was a very convenient and helpful service offered by Microsoft. They were always able to find some kind of solution each time and could even remote in and take care of the problem for me. However, I have just learned that Microsoft is now charging for this service. When I learned of this from the Microsoft rep, I left the individual with the following link before disconnecting:

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/five-apps/five-alternatives-to-microsoft-office/

On top of that, I have noticed a significant decline in the quality of their chat support. Aside from their representatives typing in broken English with numerous spelling errors, their responses are programmed with little to no thought. Chatting with Microsoft Support is now slightly better than chatting with an AI program created by the world's smartest chimpanzee. It is quite clear that Microsoft has made some cutbacks to this department. This, along with their recent removal of the 15GB Camera Roll Bonus from OneDrive, is yet another example of the ubiquitous corporate greed that we customers have very sadly become accustomed to in the tech sector. Indeed, this very behavior is why www.MooreITHelp.com will never change. I have never had any desire to see my small business grow into some massive tentacled monstrosity probing for any and all ways into your bank account. I am sure I am not alone in noticing a trend in the relationship between the size of a corporation and its lack of customer service and human compassion.

Just recently, I had completed a personal project of scanning in all of my vintage family photos and uploading them to OneDrive in an attempt to allow family members from across the globe to add, edit, and make personal copies for their own collection. Apparently for a company that is worth just under 70 BILLION dollars (as of my writing this) this service represents a life or death threat to their bottom line and had to be monetized for the good of the shareholder. Now, unless I want to add an additional expense to the ridiculous list of charges for using Microsoft software on a Microsoft OS, I'm either going to have to confuse everyone with a whole new link or cut everyone off.

My wife and I are really growing tired of the noticeable increase in costs and decrease in quality with seemingly every service we purchase from virtually any corporation. Yelp, for example, grew so prominent and popular so quickly that they simply implemented an ad-hoc program intended to take care of fraudulent reviews, rather than hiring specialists for a fraud department - something companies like Thumbtack.com and TripAdvisor.com did. This results in many honest reviews being silenced with pretty much no meaningful recourse for the reviewer or the business being reviewed. Without considering their product or their clients, Yelp figured it easier to just contract out a lowest bidder to slap together a gaggle of half-assed algorithms and consider the case closed. I managed to obtain over 100 Yelp email addresses with which to voice my concerns only to repeatedly be recited programmed responses basically boiling down to the reviewer needing to write more reviews and be more active on Yelp in order to not be filtered out.

I just recently had a client whose computer became infected only a week after I had cleaned up his machine. Though no fault of mine, I decided not to charge him for the second service to ensure his satisfaction. For me this was not just a business decision to keep a valued customer, but a statement about myself and my small business. At the heart of the matter, I started this business to help people enjoy and safely use their own property on what can be, at times, a deceptive and hostile internet. Our tech devices allow us to share meaningful parts of our lives with one another, to conduct business at lightning speeds across the world, and to explore places and ideas we may never have encountered without them. I want my customers to be able to take advantage of these possibilities to the fullest – not to be duped and bled dry by the thousand cuts of a cash hungry conglomerate.

This was not a lone incident to be used as self-advertising either. Recently, a non-profit agency contacted me for assistance with data they had lost. Their previous technician had not bothered to properly install a data backup system and after a technical problem the agency found themselves having lost large swathes of integral information for their operations. Naturally ,the agency representatives were distraught and desperate. Instead of taking advantage of their precarious situation with “priority fees” or “emergency response charges”, I charged them half of my usual pricing due to the circumstances as they had already spent a good deal of money to accomplish nothing. This non-profit agency has since sent me enough work to keep me busy for a month.

These scenarios are why I started this business in the first place. I am not in this industry to gouge people and pad my coffers with ill-gotten gains. I am here to help people. This is what makes me different from my larger competitors. We have all seen prices keep climbing as services remain stagnant or are even repackaged and charged for (yes I am still shocked at Microsoft’s OneDrive policy changes). Hold times on the phone or online keep growing, the technical assistance remains the same quality it has been for ages (lackluster to put it mildly), and the employees themselves don’t seem to be the benefactors of these increasing revenues and decreasing expenditures. That money, our money, is quite simply funneled to shareholders while we are treated like sheep penned in and waiting to be shorn. If you are as tired as I am of companies acting like they own you and a chunk of your paycheck simply due to the virtue of being the biggest fish in the pond, then give me a chance to show you the power of customer service and a passion for technology.

New Experimental Recovery - Part 3

2016-03-30T16:18:00.002-07:00

It worked. I got everything off of the drive! Shipping out to the client on a new external hard drive now....

After that, I rescued yet another drive. I find this far more post worthy than when I clean up a virus infected computer. That one was 40GB of family photos saved from digital oblivion.

New Experimental Recovery - Part 2

2016-03-24T11:40:00.002-07:00

So I have successfully replaced the damaged chips on this Hard Drive's motherboard. The drive now reads, but the data is heavily damaged....

I wrote a quick batch script to copy each file over one by one via command prompt to my file server....This is a stressful process to watch as i listen to the drive heads struggle to read the platters.

Windows 10 for Businesses?

2016-03-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

So here's something interesting;
I've been reading a few articles that predict that half of all organizations will have commenced their Windows 10 roll out by January next year.
"I believe that CIOs will begin to upgrade to Windows 10 this year if their software vendors support it," said Matt Mielke, director of IT at Innovations Federal Credit Union.
John Gracyalny, VP of IT at SafeAmerica Credit Union says "We have board approval for workstation memory upgrades and for moving to Windows 10 and Office 2016 this year. But it's not so much a result of what Microsoft has done as it is that our various technology vendors now support it."
Dirk De Busser, IT manager at Fashion Club 70, claims that he has been rolling out Windows 10 Enterprise since October last year on new computers.
I found this particularly interesting as I have actually gained new clients as a result of Windows 10 and the problems users encountered. That's not to say that the OS is a problem - but companies usually take the "Let's Wait and See" approach when it comes to upgrading OS's. Heck, I know companies who are still on XP and choose to pay the various fines that come with running the obsolete OS. Windows 7 simply wasn't compatible with their back-end systems.

From what I have seen at the front lines, it seems that the dust is only just now settling with Windows 10 after several large updates.

Regardless, I'm happy with Windows 10 and am actually using it on my primary system. I suppose these articles and the aforementioned quotes shows that Windows 10 is more than ready. But I'm still getting emails along the lines of "Hey Christopher, I just installed Windows 10 to get rid of the Microsoft nag - now how do I go back to 7?"

New Experimental Recovery

2016-03-15T08:39:00.004-07:00

I received a hard drive from a new client with physical damage to the PCB board.
I really feel this odd personal defeat when I cant recover data, so with the client's approval - I'm trying a new method of recovery. This will involve replacing the PCB board and transferring the BIOS chip over from the old board to the new one.
Finding the correct board is challenging and it looks like I will have to order it all the way from Australia. Shipping is going to take time and then I'm going to have to de-solder that chip and solder it to the new board.

Fingers crossed!

www.MooreITHelp.com

Recovered Another Hard Drive!

2016-03-09T08:35:00.000-08:00

Just recovered all of the data off a new client's hard drive.
I'm not sure which is my favorite part - that another shop said it couldn't be done, or that I was able to get all of her family photos back. The client's expression when I recover all of their precious photos is why I do what I do!

Check out www.MooreITHelp.com or call me directly at (617) 396-7044

2015-12-11T13:21:00.005-08:00

You've got to love Symantec!

The Windows 10 Update We've Been Waiting For

2015-11-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

Windows 10 seems to be getting off on a rocky start. Some of my clients are experiencing no problems at all and are loving the new Windows experience while others are having so many problems they cant even use their computers and may have to downgrade. As I have explained to a few of my clients, I am confident that a series of updates will be released to solve these problems.

Windows 10 Version 1511 cumulative update (KB3118754) was recently released and is a step in the right direction. The update fixes a lot of problems with Windows 10. Microsoft is streamlining activation, restoring colored window title bars, integrating Skype, and improving the Edge browser.

New Activation Methodology

I personally did not have any trouble activating Windows 10, but if you are or did - that's been changed too. When it was originally released, Microsoft didn’t really explain how the upgrade process worked. Activation now works as it should have originally. When you install Windows 10, you can enter your PC’s Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 product key and it should activate properly if that PC was eligible for the upgrade. The “digital entitlement” process — where your PC activates automatically without entering a product key — is also better explained. Under Settings > Upgrade & security > Activation, you’ll now see “Windows 10 on this device is activated with a digital entitlement” if it activated without requiring a product key.

Colored Title Bars! WOOO!

If you were part of the many who were put off by the standard white title bars, you can now go to Settings > Personalization > Colors and switch on “Show color on Start, taskbar, action center, and title bar”. The color you choose here will be used for your title bars.

Ads on the Start Menu

You might notice the small and innocuous "Suggestions" section of the start menu, recommending apps you should install when you open it. If you don't much care for it, you can easily disable these ads, if you like. Visit Settings > Personalization > Start and disable the “Occasionally show suggestions in Start” option. I'm hoping that this is a continuing trend for Microsoft in response to the bad press Windows 10 has gotten with regards to privacy and a lack of options preventing troubling background activities.

Track Your Lost PC

Windows 10 now includes a “Find My Device” option under Settings > Update & security. This means Windows 10 finally has built-in tracking, so you can track your laptop or tablet if you lose it via GPS and location services. Much like the Windows phone, you can also tell Windows 10 to periodically send your device’s location to Microsoft’s servers, allowing you to view its last known location if you ever lose it.

Edge Gains Browser Sync and Tab Previews

The big two user-facing features are tab previews — just mouse over a tab in the titlebar — and syncing of your favorites and reading list across all your Windows 10 devices.

Microsoft Edge won’t be receiving browser extensions yet, however — those have been delayed. And, interestingly enough, Microsoft isn’t updating Edge via the Store as originally promised. Edge updates seem to be held back for major new versions of Windows 10, unlike Windows 10’s other included apps, which are updated more regularly.

The Windows 10 Background on the Login Screen Is Now Optional

One thing in particular that annoyed me when I first upgraded to Windows 10 was the inability to change that new login background to just a solid color. I personally used a few registry hacks to get what I wanted, but now you can just go to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen and disable the “Show Windows background picture on the sign-in screen” option. Weirdly enough, you cant choose your own background. I foresee that in a soon to come update.

For more tips and tricks, shoot me an email at Help@MooreITHelp.com

The Windows "Installer" Folder and Hard Drive Space

2015-08-18T10:56:00.001-07:00

By now, many of you have probably heard of the SSD - the Solid State Drive. This piece of hardware is many times faster than the traditional mechanical hard drive found in most computers, however it is usually significantly more expensive. So, if you have a fairly expensive computer, it may run off of an SSD with the caveat of being significantly smaller than the traditional drive. This reintroduces the old 90's problem of conserving hard drive space.

Most PC enthusiasts with a Desktop computer will use a small SSD to store their OS and then store all their data on a larger, inexpensive traditional mechanical drive. But over time, various temporary files will begin to fill up your little SSD. These files build up through the course of simply using the computer, whether it be through the course of installing programs to various Windows Updates to program patches to MS Office upgrades. Through various means, you can find a folder within Windows called the "INSTALLER" folder - where a good deal of this stuff is stored. The problem is that a good deal of the stuff in this folder can be referred to as "Orphaned" files - files and folders which are no longer required but remain on the drive regardless, causing this folder to grow to over 15, 20, even 30GB.

Unfortunately, it gets worse - this folder cant just be deleted outright. A good deal of the files and folders within the Installer folder are still used by the system. So, if you are looking to save drive space, save the Installer folder for last. Before risking damage to your system, let me revisit some classic steps to cleaning up your drive, then, if your drive is still pretty full, we can look at the Installer folder again. I have tools that can find the files and folders which are safe to delete, and if that doesnt work, i always provide other options.

Give me a call at 617-396-7044 or shoot me an email at Help@MooreITHelp.com

Internet Security in 2015

2015-04-30T10:51:00.000-07:00

I got a phone call a few days ago from a young lady whose file extensions were all replaced with ".ECC". The folders where said files resided now all included a new text document titled "HELP_RESTORE_FILES.txt". This sounded like another variant of the kinds of infections I encounter all the time. However, after running through my usual process, I found that these files werent actually "infected" per say, but rather that they were encrypted by a virus called EccKrypt.
This was a new one for me, and basically boils down to that age old technician's warning;

BACK UP YOUR FILES!!!

The computer is now an appliance to which almost every American owns. With Windows still dominating the market, big businesses are seeing the demand and the opportunity for profit in promising advanced protection from the big bad hackers. Now we see ads for products like the FixMeStick, MyCleanPC.com, Win Cleaner, and MaxMySpeed.com - and just like everything else in big business - its all one big lie.
No antivirus solution is completely infallible, and even with the latest and greatest installed, one can still get infected. Further, removing infections is often not the concern! What about identity theft? None of the aforementioned "protection" products offer real time scanning or any form of firewall, and in the case of my new client, the damage has been done! Even with a squeaky clean PC, her files were encrypted - How is a Registry Cleaner going to take care of that?!

So call a mechanic for your car, a roofer for your house, and a tech for your computer. Ensure that you have the best protection in place and the best backup in place. Call MooreITHelp.com at 617-396-7044, or shoot me an email at Help@MooreITHelp.com.