PC tools, Utilities and software

Recover Deleted Files

2014-05-17T07:19:00.000+02:00

Lost files can usually be recovered—if you discover the loss soon enough. But every time you write to the hard drive, you lower the likelihood of a successful recovery. So use that computer as little as possible until the files are recovered or you’ve given up hope.

Check the Recycle Bin

Windows stores “deleted” files here as a safety measure. You’ll find the icon in the upper-left corner of your screen. if you find the files there, select them, right-click them, and choose Restore.

Use your backup

If you back up your hard drive—or at least your libraries—on a regular basis, your files are probably preserved there. I don’t know which backup program you use, so I can’t tell you exactly how to search for and recover the files. It’s generally a pretty intuitive process.
And if you don’t back up, maybe it’s time to get into the habit. It won’t help you this time, but it could the next.

Try file recovery software

Even a file that’s no longer in the Recycle Bin may still exist. Windows doesn’t overwrite the actual ones and zeros until another file needs the drive space. That’s why I told you to avoid using the PC as much as possible.
There are several good file recovery programs available. I recommend Recuva Portable. It’s easy to use and has a very good track record. And it sometimes shows you the images that it can recover. (I’ve seen it recover images that it could not preview.) It’s also free.

And, since it’s portable, which means that you don’t have to install it, you can use it on your PC without writing to the hard drive. Download the program on another computer, and unzip it to a folder on a flash drive. Then plug the flash drive into the PC with the missing files, and run it from there.

Hire a professional
This is the last resort, if none of the above suggestions work. There are many data recovery services available, and since your drive is still working, you probably don’t need one of the more expensive ones.

Originally posted on PCWorld

Replace Windows 8 with Windows 7 or a look-alike

2014-04-13T06:52:00.004+02:00

You can make Windows 8 behave very much like Windows 7. With far less work than it takes to reinstall an alternate operating system, you can create a reasonable facsimile of Microsoft’s best user interface.

First, you need a third-party Start Menu program. There are many
out there, but my favorite is the free Classic Shell. It creates a very close approximation of the Windows 7 Start Menu, with all of the features in the right places.

When you set up Classic Shell, go to the Start Menu Settings tab and select Windows 7 style. Near the bottom of the Basic Settings tab, be sure to check Skip Metro screen. You’ll never have to see that dumb home screen again.

Classic Shell includes more than just a Start Menu replacement. It can also return Internet Explorer and File Explorer (the Windows 8 equivalent to Windows Explorer) to their old selves.
What Classic Shell can’t do is turn off the charms that appear when you mouse too closely to the corners of your screen. Fortunately, there are other ways to do this.

One such solution is built into Windows 8.1. Unfortunately, this solution doesn't disable the bottom-right corner.

If that’s alright by you, right-click the taskbar and select Properties. Click the Navigation tab. Uncheck both When I point to the upper-right corner, show the charms and When I click the upper-left corner, switch between my recent apps.

To disable all of these corners, forget the instructions above and use the Winaero Charms Bar Killer. When you launch this free program, it goes directly to the notification area. Right-click the icon for options.

How to format a write-protected USB flash drive

2014-02-17T19:40:00.000+02:00

Some memory cards and USB pen drives have write protection switches, which allows you to prevent files from being deleted, or any new files being written to the device. It also prevents the drive or card from being formatted.

Occasionally, you’ll find that a USB flash drive will refuse to format and Windows will tell you that it is write protected, even though there is no switch.
Here are a couple of methods you can try to format the drive and remove the write protection. Bear in mind that there is no guarantee that they will work for you: your drive or memory card may be corrupt or broken and no utility or low-level formatting tool will make it work again. The only solution in this case is to buy a new drive.

Removing write-protection in the Registry using Regedit.exe

In any version of Windows from XP onwards, run Regedit.exe (searching regedit will usually show the program at the top of the list).
Navigate to the following key:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\
CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

Double-click on the WriteProtect value in the right-hand pane of Regedit.exe. Change the Value data from 1 to 0 and click OK to save the change. Close Regedit and restart your computer. Connect your USB drive again, and you should find it is no longer write protected. You can now format the drive as normal by right-clicking on it in My Computer and choosing Format.
If you can’t find StorageDevicePolicies, you can try creating a key by right-clicking in the white space in the Control folder and choosing New -> Key and carefully entering the name.

Now double-click on the new key (folder) and right-click once again and choose New -> DWORD. Name it WriteProtect and set its value to 0. Click OK, exit Regedit and reboot your computer.
If this method doesn’t work, try the following:

Removing write-protection using Diskpart

With your USB drive plugged in, launch a command prompt. Do this by searching for cmd.exe in the Start menu (or Start screen in Windows 8). In Windows XP, click Start then Run, and type cmd.exe in the box.
NOTE: you may need to run Cmd.exe with administrator privileges if you see an “access is denied” message.
To do that, right-click on the shortcut and choose Run as administrator. In Windows 8, simply choose Command prompt (admin).
Now, type the following, pressing Enter after each command:
diskpart
list disk
select disk x (where x is the number of your USB flash drive – use the capacity to work out which one it is)
attributes disk clear readonly
clean
create partition primary
format fs=fat32 (you can swap fat32 for ntfs if you only need to use the drive with Windows computers)
exit

Preventing ransomware and Malware infections

2014-01-19T08:07:00.000+02:00

Avoiding ransomware is much the same as avoiding other types of other malware.

Always run a good antivirus utility and keep Windows and browser-related components (Java, Adobe, and the like) updated. Keep your browser clean to prevent adware invasions that could lead to malware infections. Always, always be wary of unexpected email attachments and spam. (CryptoLocker spreads via .zip files sent as email attachments, for example.)

And just to beat this dead horse one more time: Always have a good backup system in place, just in case your PC does become infected and you can’t recover your files. Yes, it’s that important.

Rescue your PC from ransomware

2014-01-19T08:05:00.001+02:00

With the nasty CryptoLocker malware making the rounds—encrypting its victims’ files, and then refusing to provide the unlock key unless a payment of $300 is made via Bitcoin or a prepaid cash voucher—ransomware is back in the spotlight.

You can remove many ransomware viruses without losing your files, but with some variants that isn’t the case. In the past I’ve discussed general steps for removing malware and viruses, but you need to apply some specific tips and tricks for ransomware. The process varies and depends on the type of invader. Some procedures involve a simple virus scan, while others require offline scans and advanced recovery of your files. I categorize ransomware into three varieties: scareware, lock-screen viruses, and the really nasty stuff.

Scareware:

The simplest type of ransomware, aka scareware, consists of bogus antivirus or clean-up tools that claim they’ve detected umpteen issues, and demand that you pay in order to fix them. Some specimens of this variety of ransomware may allow you to use your PC but bombard you with alerts and pop-ups, while others might prevent you from running any programs at all. Typically these invaders are the easiest type of ransomware to remove.

Lock-screen viruses:

Next is the ransomware variety I call lock-screen viruses, which don’t allow you to use your PC in any way. They display a full-size window after Windows starts up—usually with an FBI or Department of Justice logo—saying that you violated the law and that you must pay a fine.

The real nasty stuff:

Encrypting malware—such as CryptoLocker—is the worst variant, because it encrypts and locks your personal files until you pay up. But even if you haven’t backed up your files, you may have a chance to recover your data.

Removing Ransomware

Before you can free your hostage PC, you have to eliminate the hostage taker.

If you have the simplest kind of ransomware, such as a fake antivirus program or a bogus clean-up tool, you can usually remove it by following the steps in my previous malware removal guide. This procedure includes entering Windows’ Safe Mode and running an on-demand virus scanner such as Malwarebytes.

If the ransomware prevents you from entering Windows or running programs, as lock-screen viruses typically do, you can try to use System Restore to roll Windows back in time. Doing so doesn’t affect your personal files, but it does return system files and programs to the state they were in at a certain time. The System Restore feature must be enabled beforehand; Windows enables it by default.

To try System Restore, shut down your PC and locate the F8 key on your PC’s keyboard. Turn the PC on, and as soon as you see anything on the screen, press the F8 key repeatedly. This action should bring up the Advanced Boot Options menu; there, select Repair Your Computer and press Enter. Next you’ll likely have to log on as a user; select your Windows account name. (If you don’t have a password set, leave that blank.) Once logged on, you’ll find shortcuts to a few tools; click System Restore.

If you don’t see the Repair Your Computer option on the Advanced Boot Options menu, you can use your Windows disc (if you have that) to access the recovery tools. Click Repair your computer on the main menu before proceeding with the installation. Alternatively, you can create a Windows System Repair Disc on another PC running the same Windows version, and then boot to that disc on the infected PC to reach the same recovery tools.

If System Restore doesn’t help and you still can’t get into Windows to remove the ransomware, try running a virus scanner from a bootable disc or USB drive; some people refer to this approach as an offline virus scan. My favorite bootable scanner is from Bitdefender, but more are available: Avast, AVG, Avira, Kaspersky, Norton, and Sophos all offer antivirus boot-disk software

If you still have no luck after trying Safe Mode and an on-demand scanner, performing a System Restore, and running an offline virus scanner, your last resort is likely to perform a factory restore. Most ransomware isn’t that tenacious, however.

Recover hidden and encrypted files:

With that out of the way, it’s time to repair the damage. If you’re lucky, your PC was infected by malware that didn’t encrypt your data, but merely hid your icons, shortcuts, and files.

You can easily show hidden files: Open Computer, press the Alt key, select Tools, and click Folder Options. On the View tab, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and then click OK.

If your data reappears after you elect to show hidden files, that’s great—it means there’s an easy fix for your woes. Open Computer, navigate to C:\Users\, and open the folder of your Windows account name. Then right-click each folder that’s hidden, open Properties, uncheck the Hidden attribute, and click OK. Boom! Done.

If you still can’t find your data, and your files really have been malware-encrypted, you’re in trouble: Usually it isn’t possible to just decrypt or unlock your hostage files, because the decryption key is typically stored on the cybercriminal’s server. Some victimized users have reported that some pieces of malware will keep their promise, decrypting and returning your files once you pay (in particular, CryptoLocker’s handlers have been diligent about releasing the files of infected users who pay the ransom demand), but I don’t recommend paying.

This is why we constantly tell you to back up your PC on a regular basis.

If you previously set and created backups, scan them for viruses on another PC (one that is not infected) if at all possible. If all of your important files are backed up, you can proceed in removing the malware and then simply restoring your backed-up files.

If you don’t have a backup system in place, you might be able to recover some files from Shadow Volume Copies—if the malware hasn’t deleted them. Shadow Volume Copies is part of Windows’ System Restore feature. Either right-click Select files/folders and open Properties to view the Previous Versions list, or use a program called Shadow Explorer to browse the snapshots.

But don’t rely on that. Start backing up your PC today, and do it regularly.

Back up Your Data

2013-04-20T15:41:00.000+02:00

Your computer is not invulnerable. Hard-drive failures happen, as do floods, fires, earthquakes, thefts, and other calamities. The hardware in your computer is replaceable, but the data inside—whether critical business documents or precious family photos—might not be. If you don’t want to face the gut-wrenching realization that you’ve lost something important, you need to have a backup plan. Here’s how you can protect yourself, right now.

First, you need backup software. A number of perfectly fine options—such as Carbonite and Mozy—are available, but for our purposes here I’ll recommend CrashPlan, which provides all of the functionality you need for local and offsite backup absolutely free. To get started, just download and install the CrashPlan software. When the program runs, you’ll see the straightforward CrashPlan backup procedure: Select drives or folders to back up, choose a location to back them up to, and click the Start Backup button

The simplest form of protection is to back up your files to another location in your computer, to an external drive, or to other computers you own. This approach allows for fast and easy transfers, but poses some risks—if your house burns down or a robber breaks in, for instance, you could lose your backup alongside the original data. That’s why it’s smart to use offsite storage, as well.

Fortunately, CrashPlan makes offsite backup easy. You can back up your data—encrypted, no less—to a friend’s computer for free, as long as that person is also running CrashPlan on their computer and can spare the storage space. If you don’t have a friend with enough disk space (and you don’t want to buy them a new external hard drive for the purpose), you can sign up for CrashPlan’s online backup service, which runs $33 per year for 10GB of storage or $60 per year for unlimited space.

Whether you’re stashing your data online or offline, CrashPlan’s automatic-backup feature takes a lot of the headache out of backup management. Even if you don’t want to bother with software utilities, however, you owe it to yourself to back up your most critical files. Manually slapping data onto a DVD or an external hard drive is a lot better than doing nothing.

How to avoid Malware meltdown

2012-07-08T17:06:00.000+02:00

Will YOU lose the internet on Monday?

Hundreds of thousands of PCs still at risk worldwide
FBI 'ring-fenced' the virus late last year - but protection ends on Monday
See below for advice on checking if your computer has been infected

Tens of thousands of Americans whose computers are infected with malware will lose Internet service on Monday - but the meltdown is preventable by following a few simple steps.

The impending crash will affect those whose computers have been infected with the nasty 'Alureon/DNS Changer bot' when the FBI takes down the servers at 12.01 a.m. on Monday, July 9.

To avoid the meltdown, users need to determine if their computer is infected with DNS Changer. Antivirus software will not have offered protection, and Mac computers are also at risk.

To check, users can visit www.dns-ok.us. If you see a red background, your machine has been infected, and while green signals good news, you could still be at risk.

You can also go to www.dcwg.org, run by the DNS Changer Working Group, a collection of experts the FBI recruited to help with the problem.

The site includes links to commercial sites that will run a quick check on the computer, and it also lays out detailed instructions if users want to actually check the computer themselves.

Once there, click on 'Detect' and scroll to 'Manually Checking if your DNS server have been Changed'. Click on the option for your system and follow the step-by-step guide.

Your Internet service provider might also be able to help if you think your computer could have been affected.

Scroll to the bottom of www.dcwg.org/detect to see a list of the pages set up by providers for users.

If you discover that your computer has been infected, you can follow the steps at www.dcwg.org/fix. It is recommended to back up your files.

The cause of the crash is a piece of software, which was designed to redirect you from trusted websites to other sites in a bid to steal personal information and which found its way onto hundreds of thousands of computers last year.

When the attack was noticed, the FBI took the unusual step of setting up a 'safety-net', routing infected machines through their server to stop the 'spoof' attacks. These servers will be taken down on 12.01 a.m. on Monday, July 9, and when this happens, people still infected are likely to lose their internet connection without warning.

The warnings about the problem have been splashed across Facebook and Google. Internet service providers have sent notices, and the FBI has set up its special website.

Despite repeated alerts, the number of computers that probably are infected is more than 277,000 worldwide, down from about 360,000 in April.

Of those still infected, the FBI believes that about 64,000 are in the United States.

Users whose computers are still infected on Monday will lose their ability to go online, and they will have to call their service providers for help deleting the malware and reconnecting to the Internet.

According to Tom Grasso, an FBI supervisory special agent, many Internet providers are ready for the problem and have plans to try to help their customers.

Grasso said other Internet providers may come up with technical solutions that they will put in place on Monday that will either correct the problem or provide information to customers.

If the Internet providers correct the server problem, the Internet will work, but the malware will remain on victims' computers and could pose future problems.

In addition to individual computer owners, about 50 Fortune 500 companies are still infected, Grasso said.

Windows 8 is a major OS overhaul

2012-05-22T17:49:00.000+02:00

Here's a look at Windows 8's new security tools and features, but some of the most important additions might be the ones you can't see.

When Windows 8 comes out later this year, the new Start screen and Metro-style apps will likely be the first changes you'll notice, but those aren't the only things that are new. Microsoft is also making some serious security enhancements to help keep your system safer and to improve Windows' ability to combat viruses and malware. It just may be the biggest improvement to Windows security yet.

Antivirus Comes Preinstalled

For the first time in the history of Windows, you’ll enjoy protection from viruses, spyware, Trojan horses, rootkits, and other malware from the very first day you turn on your Windows PC--without spending a cent. Windows 8 comes with an updated version of Windows Defender that includes traditional antivirus functions in addition to the spyware protection and other security features that it has offered since Windows Vista. Windows Defender now provides similar protection--and a similar look and feel--to that of the free Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus program, which Microsoft has offered to users as an optional download since 2009.

Better Download Screening

When Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9, it updated the browser's SmartScreen Filter to help detect and block unknown and potentially malicious programs that you download; the function complements IE's website filtering, which works to block phishing and malicious sites. Starting with Windows 8, the program-monitoring portion of the SmartScreen Filter is built into Windows itself, and it will work whether you’re using IE, Firefox, Chrome, or any other browser.

In Windows 8, the first time you run a program that you downloaded from the Internet, the SmartScreen Filter checks it against a list of known safe applications, and alerts you if it’s unknown and therefore has the potential to be malware. If the alert does pop up, you could then further investigate the program (and the source where you downloaded it) before running it.

Since Microsoft is adding the SmartScreen feature, the company is removing the previous Security Warning alerts that appeared when you first opened a downloaded program (the old alert would show the verification status of the program publisher and warn you about running programs downloaded from the Internet).

This is a welcome change, as it cuts down on the number of alerts you have to click through--with Windows 8, you'll see an alert only when something's amiss.

Faster, More Secure Startup

Starting with Windows 8, Microsoft will begin to promote a new type of boot method, UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), which improves upon and replaces the archaic BIOS boot system that most PCs have been using for decades. I won't get into the technical details here, but UEFI offers better security, faster startup times, and a number of other benefits.

Thanks to this new boot method (and other system enhancements), your PC will start up more quickly--in as little as 8 seconds, from the time you press the power button to when Windows fully loads to the desktop. But you're sure to appreciate the less noticeable improvements too. The Secure Boot feature of UEFI will prevent advanced malware (such as bootkits and rootkits) from causing damage, and it will stop other boot loader attacks (such as malware that loads unauthorized operating systems) as well.

Though Windows 8 will work on PCs with the old BIOS boot system, Microsoft will require new PCs that carry the Windows 8 Certification to use the UEFI boot system with the Secure Boot feature enabled by default. This Secure Boot requirement is causing some concern within the PC industry and among power users, as it could complicate the process of using Linux distributions or dual-booting multiple operating systems. However, Microsoft has promised to keep boot control in users' hands, and the company requires system makers participating in Windows 8 Certification to offer a way for users to disable the Secure Boot feature on PCs (but not on tablets).

Two New Password Types

Windows 8 introduces two new password types that you can use when logging in to your Windows account: a four-digit PIN and a "picture password."

For the picture password, you choose a photo or image and draw three gestures (a combination of circles, straight lines, or taps/clicks) in different places to create your “password.”

Even if you decide to use these new password types, you still must set up a regular password. A PIN offers a faster way to log in, and a picture password gives you a more creative and fun way to do so. Sometimes you’ll have to enter the regular password, such as when you need administrative approval for changing system settings as a standard user, but you can log in to your account using the PIN, the picture, or your regular password.

Other Noteworthy Defense Measures

The enhanced Windows Defender, SmartScreen, boot system, and password protection are the most noticeable security improvements in Windows 8. But the new OS has even more system enhancements that you won't see at all. A few core Windows components (such as the Windows kernel, ASLR, and heap) have been updated to help reduce common attacks and exploits even further.

Cyber Security

2012-02-05T06:43:00.001+02:00

Electronic communications networks must be ultra secure in order to build confidence, disposal of physical documents also poses a security risk

INFORMATION security experts last week urged businesses in SA that deal with personal information to review their cyber security and the disposal of physical documents practices constantly to protect clients’ and employees’ information.

Data events such as hacking, data loss, unauthorised data use, and the physical disposal of documents all present risk to businesses and consumers.

According to Metrofile , an information and records management firm, secure disposal of hardcopy documents is often overlooked and yet it is a crucial aspect of data protection.

Communications Minister Dina Pule said last week that cyber crime was a drawback that went with advances in technology. She said, "our electronic communications networks must be ultra secure in order to build confidence amongst the users of e-commerce platforms".

The Department of Communications plans to present the National Cyber Security Policy Framework to the Cabinet next month.

Last Saturday was Data Privacy Day — an international awareness day aimed at educating governments, businesses, industries and citizens on the importance of protection of personal information. While the day was recognised globally by business, corporate SA was grappling with privacy legislation, Dean Chivers, a director of tax and legal affairs at Deloitte, said last week.

As the Protection of Personal Information (PPI) Bill looms, many companies are racing against time to grasp the compliance demands of the legislation, he said.

"The PPI bill is a natural progression for SA. At its most basic, the legislation reinforces every South African’s constitutional right to privacy," he said. "At the other end of the scale, it brings the country into line with most of its significant international trading partners, a factor that builds confidence when information is transmitted across borders."

Mr Chivers said: "While companies will need to reassess their data management process, analyse their security, amend processes and change their contracts, companies should not look at the Protection of Personal Information Bill as purely an inconvenience.

"Rather, by aligning the requirements of the bill to existing projects and reporting structures, the bill can offer a sustainable and measurable return on investment".

Gianmarco Lorenzi, the CEO of Cleardata, part of Metrofile, said it was ironic that most businesses would spend thousands of rands protecting their electronic data through the use of firewalls and high-tech information security, but would let their paper leave the building in the hands of a stranger.

Mr Lorenzi said physical records containing personal information, including copies of identification documents, street addresses and banking details, must be destroyed in a manner that prevents reconstruction in an intelligible form if financial, reputational and legal repercussions are to be avoided.

"The shredding of unwanted documents remains the most effective way for businesses and industries to practice document reconstitution," he said.

Posted on BusinessDay

THABISO MOCHIKO

What's best for my computer: Hibernate, sleep, or shut down?

2011-11-06T08:16:00.000+02:00

Q: Does putting my computer to sleep help extend the battery life? What else can I do to save energy and make my new computer last?

A: We’ve all heard stories about what's best for a computer’s battery. That’s why I was excited to make friends with Fred Peters, president of Huntington Beach IT Services.

In addition to teaching computing courses in Orange County, Calif., Peters happily makes house calls to revive frazzled computers and the people who rely on them.

Here are his expert tips on how to keep your new laptop running smoothly.

Sleep mode vs. shutting down

Peters notes that your work process will determine whether it’s more efficient to use “Sleep” mode or simply shut down the computer. “It is never fun to have to consistently wait any amount of time if the shut downs are too frequent,” he says. "‘Sleep’ requires more power, but it boots up faster, while ‘Hibernate’ uses less power, but takes longer to come online.” That same logic applies to shutting off your computer completely.

“Your computer will become obsolete before you wear out your computer by turning it on and off a lot,” he adds. “It also doesn't take more energy to start a computer than to keep it running.”

Sleep mode requires a constant, though reduced use of power (0-6 watts). Peters also notes that colorful screensavers do nothing to conserve energy. Accessing your computer remotely with the Wake on LAN feature also can drain the power.

To get the most for your money, Peters advises adjusting power settings so that it automatically goes into Sleep/Standby mode after about 15 minutes of inactivity, and then shut it down at the end of your day.

Bionic battery life

To get the most out of your computer battery, Peters says to you have to give it a workout. Don’t keep your machine plugged in to an outlet. Instead, discharge the battery daily.

Size does matter

By purchasing a laptop, Peters says that you are ahead in the energy-saving game. Laptops use about 15-60 watts, while desktops use 65-250 watts — plus another 15-80 watts for a monitor.

He also adds that you can further conserve energy by using an LCD monitor and ditching the high-end video card unless it’s absolutely necessary. Also, turn off printers and other peripherals when they are not in use.

To kill “vampire power,” TreeHugger.com suggests purchasing a power strip. With all peripherals connected to one source, it’s easy to simply flip the switch on power hogs any time.

Establish a backup process

In addition to Peters’ great advice about conserving energy, I discovered the hard way that it also pays to save backup versions of your work. Invest in an external hard drive to hold your digital music library, special photos, and other key documents. Frequent backups ensure that your data doesn’t die with your laptop.

While you are in the process of backing things up, create an emergency file (on good old-fashioned paper) that contains your computer’s serial number along with other key data such as your credit card numbers and phone numbers to reach each company, along with contact info to your insurance company. Access to that information is vital, particularly in the event of an accident, fire, computer theft, or other catastrophe.

Peters warns that those key pieces of information are not safe on your computer. If you are like me and absolutely need a digital holding space for those nuggets of information, he suggests sites like LastPass as your online vault.

Originally posted on Yahoo Green

Cyber Threats Forecast for 2012

2011-10-17T23:40:00.000+02:00

The year ahead will feature new and increasingly sophisticated means to capture and exploit user data, as well as escalating battles over the control of online information that threatens to compromise content and erode public trust and privacy. Those were the findings announced by the Georgia Tech Information Security Center (GTISC) and the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) in today's release of the Georgia Tech Emerging Cyber Threats Report for 2012. The report was released at the annual Georgia Tech Cyber Security Summit, a gathering of industry and academic leaders who have distinguished themselves in the field of cyber security.

According to GTISC, GTRI and the experts cited in the report, specific threats to follow over the coming year include, among others:

* Search Poisoning -- Attackers will increasingly use SEO techniques to optimize malicious links among search results, so that users are more likely to click on a URL because it ranks highly on Google or other search engines.

* Mobile Web-based Attacks -- Expect increased attacks aimed specifically against mobile Web browsers as the tension between usability and security, along with device constraints (including small screen size), make it difficult to solve mobile Web browser security flaws.

* Stolen Cyber Data Use for Marketing -- The market for stolen cyber data will continue to evolve as botnets capture private user information shared by social media platforms and sell it directly to legitimate business channels such as lead-generation and marketing.

"We continue to witness cyber attacks of unprecedented sophistication and reach, demonstrating that malicious actors have the ability to compromise and control millions of computers that belong to governments, private enterprises and ordinary citizens," said Mustaque Ahamad, director of GTISC. "If we are going to prevent motivated adversaries from attacking our systems, stealing our data and harming our critical infrastructure, the broader community of security researchers -- including academia, the private sector and government -- must work together to understand emerging threats and to develop proactive security solutions to safeguard the Internet and physical infrastructure that relies on it."

Today's Georgia Tech Cyber Security Summit is one forum where the IT security ecosystem can gather together to discuss and debate the evolving nature of cyber threats, and to chart the course for creating solutions through collaborations among industry, government and academia. The Summit was keynoted by Admiral William J. Fallon, U.S. Navy (retired) and included a panel of security experts from Equifax, The Financial Services Roundtable, Mobile Active Defense, Reputation.com and GTRI.

"Our adversaries, whether motivated by monetary gain, political/social ideology, or otherwise are becoming increasingly sophisticated and better funded," said Bo Rotoloni, director of GTRI's Cyber Technology and Information Security Laboratory (CTISL). "Acting as individuals or groups, these entities know no boundaries, making cyber security a global problem. We can no longer assume our data is safe sitting behind perimeter-protected networks. Attacks penetrate our systems through ubiquitous protocols, mobile devices and social engineering, circumventing the network perimeter. Our best defense on the growing cyber warfront is found in cooperative education and awareness, best-of-breed tools and robust policy developed collaboratively by industry, academia and government."

The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation's leading public research universities and the home of groundbreaking cyber security research and academic initiatives through GTISC, GTRI and other facilities across campus. These efforts are focused on producing technology and innovation that will help drive economic growth, while improving human life on a global scale. The complete 2012 Cyber Threat Report is available at: http://gtsecuritysummit.com/report.html

Speed Up Your Windows XP

2011-10-16T08:13:00.000+02:00

Pursue Some tricks we can make our Windows more faster that never happen before and usually these all are unnecessary for each time. Some features are usually for only looking attractive. Optimizing Display Settings Windows XP mostly like for its visual interface. We do not interfere that but on this visualization has more extra feature that does not need ever without wasting system resource. Lets see how we can disable it-
1. Go to Start Menu
2. Click Setting.
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System.
5. Go Advance Tab
6. Click Setting under Performance group
7. Off only the following ticked
* Show Shadows under Menu
* Show Shadows under Mouse Pointer.
* Show Translucent Selection Rectangle
* Use drop shadows for icons labels on desktop.
* Use visual style on windows and buttons

OPTIMISE YOUR PAGEFILE

If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.
1. Right click on My Computer and select Properties
2. Select the Advanced tab
3. Under Performance choose the Settings button
4. Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
5. Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file. Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.

REMOVE THE DESKTOP PICTURE

Your desktop background consumes a fair amount of memory and can slow the loading time of your system. Removing it will improve performance.
1. Right click on Desktop and select Properties
2. Select the Desktop tab
3. In the Background window select None
4. Click Ok

REMOVE FONTS FOR SPEED

Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.
1. Open Control Panel
2. Open Fonts folder
3. Move fonts you don’t need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.

SA Symantec Intelligence Report

2011-10-12T13:43:00.000+02:00

Johannesburg - Symantec on Tuesday announced the results of the September 2011 Symantec Intelligence Report, which saw phishing attacks in South Africa increase once again.

The country is now positioned as the most targeted geography for phishing, with one in 133.1 emails.

This month’s analysis also reveals that a deluge of malicious email-borne malware has left a clear mark on the threat landscape for September. Approximately 72 percent of all email-borne malware in September could be characterised as aggressive strains of generic polymorphic malware, first identified in the July Symantec Intelligence Report. At the end of July, this rate was 23.7 percent, in August it fell slightly to 18.5 percent before soaring to 72 percent in September.

“This unprecedented high-water mark underlines the nature by which cyber criminals have escalated their assault on businesses in 2011, fully exploiting the weaknesses of more traditional security countermeasures,” said Paul Wood, Senior Intelligence Analyst, Symantec.cloud.

Further analysis reveals that the social engineering behind many of these attacks has accelerated with the adoption of a variety of new techniques, such as pretending to be an email from a smart printer/scanner being forwarded by a colleague in the same organisation has been detected.

“The idea of an office printer sending malware is an unlikely one, as printers and scanners were not actually used in these attacks, but perhaps this sense of security is all that is required for such a socially engineered attack to succeed in the future,” Wood said.

Although spam levels remained fairly stable during September, Symantec Intelligence observed the use of identified vulnerabilities in certain older versions of the popular WordPress blogging software on a large number of web sites across the internet. Spam emails containing links to these compromised web sites are being spammed out. It is however important to note that blogs hosted by WordPress itself seem to be unaffected.

Additional research reveals that JavaScript is becoming increasing popular as the programming language used by spammers and malware authors. Spammers use it to conceal where they are redirecting pages, and in some cases, to conceal entire web pages.

“For spammers, hosting simple JavaScript obfuscation pages on free hosting sites can increase the lifetime of that site before the site operator realises the page is being used for malicious activity,” Wood said. “JavaScript is popularly used for redirecting visitors of a compromised web site to the spammer's landing page. While some of these techniques have been common in malware distribution for some time, spammers are increasingly using them.”
Originally posted on iol scitech

Make Your Computer Energy Efficient

2011-09-19T15:09:00.000+02:00

I know that my computer has energy-efficiency settings. Yours does, too. But I almost never mess with them. For some reason, for a lot of us, messing with the settings is one of those things you hear about, and know about, but put off to take care of “later,” when you find yourself at the computer with “some free time.” But let’s be honest—your free time at your computer (and mine!) is a lot more likely to be devoted to trolling gossip sites and Facebook than to fine-tuning your computer’s energy settings. So let’s take a minute and change that today. Here’s some very simple advice—some of which you can put into action right now, while you read this entry. You’ll save energy going forward, and you’ll assuage that guilty conscience by finally taking some easy little steps toward a more efficient home or office.

* Hibernation: With winter dragging on and on, doesn’t hibernation sound so appealing right now? Well, your computer feels the same way. Allow it to take nice little naps during the day when you wander away on coffee breaks, lunch breaks, talk-to-your-coworkers-in-the-hallway breaks, or whatever it is you do when you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing. Ok, first, go into your computer’s power management panel… Seriously, do this right now! Now, set the display and the hard drive to both go to sleep after 10 minutes or less of inactivity. Next, make sure the entire system is set to go into standby/sleep mode within 20-30 minutes. The lower you can keep the numbers in these settings, the better. That was so easy, right?

* Screen saver = energy waster: Can you believe it? Well, it’s true! Screen savers are a leftover idea from the early days of picture tube monitors, completely unnecessary for today’s monitors. They actually use a lot more energy than simply setting your monitor to dim itself before going to sleep would. So ditch the scrolling photos of frogs and blades of grass for some truly green action: Set your monitor to dim after 5 minutes or less of inactivity.

* Dim your watts: The brightest setting on your monitor causes it to gobble up twice as much energy as the dimmest setting. Save those wasted watts by keeping the monitor running on a much dimmer setter all the time. As the daylight changes wherever you’re using your computer, adjust the brightness.

* Strip smarter: Need we have the power strip conversation again? So, you know that it’s a good idea to plug electronics into a power strip to avoid that phantom load we’ve talked about before. This is an especially good idea when it comes to your computer, which tends to hang out with a lot of power-hungry friends like printers and speakers. The best solution of all is to get a smart plug strip, which will automatically cut the power flow when your computer and its posse aren’t in use. Automatic is good, because it’s one less thing for you to remember!

BioPDF PDF Writer

2011-08-31T23:34:00.000+02:00

BioPDF PDF Writer
Version: 6.0.6.745
License Type: Free
Price: Free
OS: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008
File Size: 3987 KB
Author: BioPDF

Download Now

BioPDF PDF Writer installs easily, automatically downloading and installing the Ghostscript Light PDF printer driver for which it's a front-end. It also offers the same watermarking, password protection, and merging. The only real differences seem to be a slight variation in the install routine and pricing. Where Bullzip is free but will accept donations via PayPal, BioPDF can be registered and paid for at the program's Web site.

As downloaded, BioPDF PDF Writer is free for personal use. No matter which version you opt for, opt for one. Bullzip and BioPDF PDF Writer are in a class of their own when it comes to ease of installation, ease of use, and features. Another big plus--no nags or ads.

For admins, bioPDF is simple and flexible to adapt and deploy, with support for unattended setup scripts, Citrix Metaframe, and more. End-users find the PDF writer fast and intuitive to use, emboldened by the fact that the interface is localized into multiple languages. This leads to swift adoption and low support requirements. When all users can and do print to PDF, fewer potentially harmful or unreadable file formats are distributed and paper use is greatly reduced throughout the organization.

How Does it Work?

The bioPDF PDF Writer works as a Microsoft Windows printer and allows you to write PDF documents from virtually any Microsoft Windows application.

Feature Overview

Print to PDF from almost any Windows application.
Supports 64-bit operatings systems.
Direct output to the same file each time or prompt for destination.
Control if the printer should ask if you want to see the resulting PDF document.
Control settings and prompts programmatically.
Setup can run unattended.
Graphical user interface.
Password protect PDF documents.
128/40 bit encryption.
Quality settings (screen, printer, ebook, prepress).
Set document properties.
Watermark text, size, rotation, and transparency.
Superimpose/background documents.
Appending/prepending documents.
User interface control.
Command line interface to all settings.
COM/ActiveX API interface for programmatic control.
Microsoft.NET API and command line API.
Support for Citrix MetaFrame
Support for Windows Terminal Server
Create BMP, EPS, PS, PNG, PCX, JPEG, and TIFF files as alternative to PDF documents.
Create linearized PDF files for optimized web viewing.
Initial zoom settings.
Page thumbnails.
Create one PDF for all pages or one file per page.
Individual horizontal and vertical resolution for image creation.
Configure text and graphics alpha bits to support smooth edges in images.

Download and See For Yourself

How safe are our Windows PCs from malware?

2011-08-13T07:47:00.001+02:00

What percentage of PCs in the United States are infected with malware? If you’ve been following the mainstream press recently, you might have read an alarming statistic: “Nearly half of personal computers in the U.S. are compromised by malware.”

That statement is an outright fabrication. It is not true. It is not even remotely accurate, based on objective data. The actual number varies, depending on where you are in the world, but for Windows users who have automatic updates turned on, the worldwide average is somewhere between 1% and 2%. In my opinion, if you practice the basics of online security, the likelihood that your Windows PC is infected by malware is a tiny fraction of 1%.

And yet that alarming and bogus 50% number was stated as if it were a fact in a feature story last week at CNNMoney.com. That story has so far been recommended by 371 people on Facebook. The same “fact” was repeated in a variety of other online sources, including thestreet.com, CNBC.com, businessweek.com, businessinsider.com, and boston.com, to name just a few.

It hit my radar when I saw the number quoted in a tweet from Mark Russinovich, a Technical Fellow at Microsoft and one of the smartest people I know.

My first reaction was “Oh really?”

My second reaction was to do some research. It took me less than 15 minutes to knock down this story, which is just the latest example of a depressing truism: If you give the mainstream press a computer story, you can usually count on them to get it wrong. If you give them a sexy press release with a provocative number, you can cinch the deal.

This case starts with a press release from Staples, dated April 5, 2011. Here’s the part that sucked in that CNN staff writer:

A common misconception uncovered in the IT IQ survey is that we falsely presume our computers are well-protected from the viruses, spyware, and other malware that put our personal information at risk and decrease performance. 83 percent of the survey respondents stated that they are somewhat or very confident their computer is free of malware. Yet, nearly half of personal computers in the U.S. are compromised by malware.*

That asterisk was in the original. It leads to this footnote at the bottom of the press release:

*According to findings released by PandaLabs in February 2011.

There’s no link to that study, but it took only seconds to find the original report from Panda Security:

According to data gathered by the free online antivirus Panda ActiveScan, 50 percent of scanned computers were infected with malware, mostly Trojans.

So, the sample consists of people from around the world who were suspicious that their computers were infected and went to an online virus scanner? That’s a far cry from “nearly half of all computers in the U.S.” (Amusingly, a commenter on the Panda blog points out that the sample is “highly flawed,” and a response from Panda Security acknowledges that fact: “The data are taken from our online scanner ActiveScan. … Some people may think that the result is biased because some of those users suspect that they could be infected, which in fact is true.”)

Update 19-Apr: In response to this post, a spokeperson for Panda Security just contacted me. The company has edited the misleading headline on the press release to more accurately reflect its contents. The original headline read “In January, 50 percent of computers worldwide were infected with some type of computer threat.” The revised headline reads: “In January, 50 percent of computers scanned by Panda ActiveScan worldwide were infected with some type of computer threat.”

So why does Panda want to publish such an alarming and yet admittedly incorrect number? Because they’re trying to scare the crap out of you so they can sell antivirus software. Why does Staples want so spread that frightening but bogus statistic? Because they’re trying to scare the crap out of you so they can sell their EasyTech services. The original press release isn’t even subtle about it: “Our certified EasyTech associates are highly trained with expertise in diagnostics, repair, virus/malware removal and data back up solutions to name a few.”

The best numbers I’ve seen from an independent source (i.e., one that isn’t trying to sell a security product) are in Microsoft’s annual Security Intelligence Report. The Malware Trends section of the most recent report contains telemetry data drawn from more than 600 million Windows computers worldwide by a number of different Microsoft security tools and services, including the Malicious Software Removal Tool (which is included with automatic Windows updates every month), the free Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Defender programs, and Microsoft’s enterprise security software.

According to the most recent data, covering a one-year period that ended in mid-2010, the five worst locations in the world (in terms of active malware infections that had to be cleaned) were Turkey, Spain, Korea, Taiwan, and Brazil. The infection rates for those regions varied from quarter to quarter, but they ranged from 30 to 60 infections per 1000 computers—worldwide, the number is roughly 10 infections cleaned per 1000 PCs. That’s about 1% on average, and about 6% in the worst cases. Update: Although the MSRT doesn’t remove every species of malware, it covers every widespread family—more than 150 in all—so I expect its figures to be representative of general infection rates.

If you use Windows and you have automatic updates turned on, you’re in that sample. If you’re even moderately cautious about how you use the Internet, your risk of infection is probably well below the midpoint of that sample.

Obviously, the rate of malware infection is unknown (and probably considerably higher) for people who refuse to update their computers. But those people are unlikely to pay a tech at Staples to clean up their PC.

Originally Posted on ZDNET

Google Warning - Two Million user's computers have been infected by a virus

2011-07-24T15:08:00.000+02:00

Google has started warning more than two million internet users that their PC has been infected with a virus.
The malicious software hijacks Google browser searches and redirects people to websites containing fake security programs that pay the scammers for traffic.
Those affected by the virus will be greeted with a yellow warning at the top of their search results.

According to the company, the malware found its way onto computers via fake anti-virus software.
Then, when a Google search is entered it is sent to servers, controlled by the cyber criminals, which modify and redirect the traffic.

Writing on Google's blog, security engineer Damian Menscher said: 'The malware appears to have gotten onto users' computers from one of roughly a hundred variants of fake anti-virus, or 'fake AV' software that has been in circulation for a while.'
Google uncovered the mass scam while carrying out routine maintenance at a data centre.

Customers affected by the malware are issued with instructions on how to remove the virus from their computer.
Google's swift response is further evidence that large internet firms are vulnerable to cyber crime.
Apple has long boasted of the Mac's immunity to viruses and malware - but online security experts recently warned that the computers are facing an increased threat from criminals because of their popularity.
They said that Macs are now a more attractive target for hackers due to the rising number of people who choose them over a PC.

Originally posted on dailymail

Skype stopped working Win XP

2011-05-27T07:48:00.000+02:00

When skype stops working and crash on launch try the following to correct the problem.

Do not just install "over" the old version quite often some files are not updated correct.

Please delete config.xml

To be found in C: Documents and settings → Your profile name → Application data → Skype → Skype User name → delete config.xml any changes manually edited in this config.xml will be lost.

This config.xml will be rebuilt without any data loss, but hopefully error free, with next start of Skype. You only must log in newly and Skype will rebuilt a new and correct config.xml and will download all your contacts.

IF Still not working

Reinstall Skype

Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs → Use add/remove Skype → Allow deleting personal data
Now check, C: Documents and settings → Your profile name → Application data → There should be no more any folder called Skype. If still exist→ delete
Go to C: → Documents and settings → All Users → Application data → there should be no more any folder called Skype.If still exist → delete

Download RegSeeker (freeware)
http://www.hoverdesk.net/freeware.htm
Install RegSeeker. Go to "Search" in Regseeker Type "Skype" delete ALL entries regseeker was finding.

Install Skype and Reboot

Skype stopped working Windows 7

2011-05-26T22:38:00.001+02:00

The whole world increasingly relies on Skype. Unfortunately, recently this causes for many of us big trouble. What’s going on? Is today’s downtime just another coincidence? Fortunately, for today’s issue a fix is now available.

Around noon several people contacted us what was going wrong with their Skype. A little bit later it appeared Skype was facing serious trouble. Many users world wide were unable to use the service. It became clear we were not suffering alone.

Temporary fix available
A temporary fix has been announced on Skype’s blog, follow them for more updates. The proposed fix can be found below. Update: We added some screen shots because we received several questions about the Windows procedure.

Windows

Click Start (Windows button left bottom corner), type run and press Enter. (On Windows XP: Click Start and then Run.)
Type %appdata%\skype and click OK (see image below).

3. Locate and delete the file shared.xml.

4. If you cannot find this file:

Click Start, type run and press Enter. (On Windows XP: Click Start and then Run.)
Type the following and click OK. control folders
In the View tab, ensure that Show hidden files and folders is enabled.
Repeat steps 1-3.

5. Restart Skype.

IF still not working

1. Reinstall skype

Click Start
Control Panel
Programs and Features
Click Skype in the list and Uninstall

2. Click Start (Windows button left bottom corner), type run and press Enter. (On Windows XP: Click Start and then Run.)
3. Type %appdata%\skype and click OK
4. Delete all files in the window.
5. Reinstall Skype

6 Registry Tweaks to Make Your PC Faster

2011-05-25T08:01:00.000+02:00

Registry tweaks to speed up boot times and make Windows a bit more responsive.

The Windows Registry is a database that holds your operating system's configurations and settings. This includes everything from how long your mouse must hover over a taskbar icon before the preview pops up (in Windows Vista and Windows 7) to performance settings.

Windows 7 (and Vista) have more eye-candy features built into the operating system, but a number of Registry hacks and tweaks can speed up--or, at least, appear to speed up--the performance of your computer. Before we start mucking around with your PC's guts, however, we're going to make sure that you have a reliable backup of your Registry in case something goes sour.

Though editing the Windows Registry is not nearly as scary as it sounds, making an incorrect change can cripple your system. To ensure that this doesn't happen, it's important to take the precaution of backing up part, or all, of the Registry before you proceed.

Back Up the Entire Registry To back up your Registry, you can use the free Registry-specific backup tool ERUNT (Emergency Recovery Utility NT). ERUNT is simple to use, more reliable than System Restore, and works with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 (even 64-bit versions). ERUNT also saves each restore point independently of the other points, unlike System Restore (in System Restore, all restore points are dependent on other points). Download ERUNT here

Back Up Part of the Registry

If you're changing just one part of the Windows Registry, and you know which part that is, you don't have to back up the entire Registry. Instead, you can back up the part you plan on changing using the Registry's export feature.

First, go to Start, Run, type regedit, and press Yes. This will open the Registry Editor.

Next, find the part of the Registry you're going to change. Right-click on the Registry key you plan on changing, and click "Export." The Registry Editor will prompt you to save a .reg file to your hard drive.

To undo Registry changes, just find your .reg file and double-click it. The .reg file will reset your Registry values to their existing values (but will not remove values that you've added).

Hack Your Registry
Now that you've backed up your Registry--perhaps more than once--it's time to start hacking away. To get to the Windows Registry, go to Start > Run (in Windows Vista/7 you will have to type run into the Start menu search bar and press Enter). Type regedit, click Yes, and the Registry Editor will open.

Tweak 1: Speed Up Aero Peek
Windows 7's Aero Peek lets you see the desktop when you move your mouse cursor over to the "show desktop" button at the end of the taskbar. The standard delay time for the Aero Peek preview is 500 milliseconds, or half a second. Here's how to speed it up:

Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > Advanced.
Right-click on the right pane and click New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name the new DWORD "DesktopLivePreviewHoverTime."
Double-click on DesktopLivePreviewHoverTime to open it. Under "Base," click Decimal and then enter the delay time (in milliseconds) in the "Value data" field. Click OK, and your Aero Peek time will be set. You can set the value to higher (a longer delay time) if you're activating it too often by accident, or to lower (a shorter delay time) if half a second is just too long.
Log off and log back on for the change to take effect.

Tweak 2: Speed Up Taskbar Previews
When you roll over taskbar icons in Windows Vista and in Windows 7, little previews appear. The standard delay time for these previews is 400 milliseconds, or just under half a second. If this is too slow (or too fast) for you, you can adjust the delay time with an easy Registry hack.

Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > Advanced.
Right-click on the right pane and click New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name the new DWORD "ExtendedUIHoverTime."
Double-click on ExtendedUIHoverTime to open it. Under "Base," click Decimal and then enter in the delay time (in milliseconds) in the "Value data" field. Click OK to set the time (default is 400 milliseconds).
Log off and then log back in for the change to take effect.

Tweak 3: Speed Up Menus
If you'd like to speed up the menus in Windows Vista or Windows 7, try this easy Registry tweak:

Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Control Panel > Desktop.
Find MenuShowDelay and double-click to open. Adjust the value in milliseconds (the default is 400 milliseconds, or just under half a second).
Log off and then log back on for the change to take effect.

Tweak 4: Prevent Reboots
If you have a habit of leaving your computer on all the time (as do I), you'll occasionally run into the problem of automatic system reboots. These usually happen after Windows downloads some sort of important update, and will usually be preceded by a notification (that gives you about 10 to 15 minutes warning, unless you click it away). If you're not around to see said notification, and you have a lot of windows or important documents open on your computer, these reboots can be a hassle.

So here's how to keep your computer from automatically rebooting with an easy Registry hack. This hack works for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Policies > Microsoft > Windows.
Right-click in the right pane and select New > Key. This will create a new folder. Name the new folder "WindowsUpdate."
Open WindowsUpdate and right-click in the right pane (there will be a value already in the pane called "Default"). Select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name this DWORD "NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers."
Open NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers and change the Value data to 1. Do not change the Base button to "Decimal"; instead, keep it at "Hexadecimal." Click OK.
Exit the Registry Editor and log off and log back in for the settings to take effect. Your system will now never force a reboot without your explicit permission.

Tweak 5: Disable Notification Balloons
If you hate pop-up notification balloons on your Windows Vista or Windows 7 taskbar, you can disable them using a simple Registry tweak:

Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > Advanced.
Right-click on the right pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name your new DWORD "EnableBalloonTips."
Double-click on EnableBalloonTips and set the Value data to 0. It doesn't matter if you have Decimal or Hexadecimal clicked under "Base," because 0 is 0 in both decimal and hexadecimal.
Log off and log back on for the change to take effect. You'll no longer see any annoying notification balloons from the taskbar.

Tweak 6: Boot XP Faster
Is Windows XP booting too slowly? Here's how to speed up your boot-time with a quick Registry tweak.

Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > ContentIndex.
In the right pane will be a value called "StartupDelay." Double-click on StartupDelay to open it. Change the "Base" from Hexadecimal to Decimal, and enter 40,000 (the default setting is 480,000).
Exit the Registry Editor and restart your computer. Your computer should boot up considerably faster--while this worked for me on my Windows XP laptop, values lower than 40,000 didn't produce a noticeable difference.

Originally posted PCWorld

Surf Safer With IE9

2011-03-16T08:35:00.000+02:00

Throughout the beta testing phase of Internet Explorer, and the days and weeks leading up to its official launch, much has been made of the blazing performance of IE9's hardware accelerated graphics, and the overall immersive experience of the new browser. Another facet of IE9, though--which has received less attention--is the improved security of the browser. Here are four features of IE9 that make it safer and more secure:

1. Tracking Protection. If you are concerned with the privacy of your online browsing activities, Microsoft's hybrid approach to the "do not track" dilemma seems to be the best option currently on the table. Microsoft combines Tracking Protection Lists in IE9--which essentially blacklist specific sites to block them from gathering tracking data--with the more proactive approach of alerting sites to your privacy wishes using information in the HTTP header of your Web traffic. Between the two approaches, unwanted tracking of your browsing session should be minimized.

2. SmartScreen Application Reputation. You have probably seen at one time or another the Microsoft warning that "this type of file may harm your computer" when downloading files from your browser. The problem is that the warning is too generic and applies to virtually all downloads. With IE9, Microsoft strives to reduce the number of frivolous warnings, and provide more information for downloads that are truly potential threats. The SmartScreen Application Reputation protection assesses the reputation of a given file or download based on whether it has been signed by its author, the established reputation of the author, and the number of times it has been previously downloaded by others to determine the relative trust the file should be given.

3. Browser Segregation. When you use the pinned sites feature of IE9 and Windows 7 to access a website, the site opens in its own browser session, independent of the desktop browser. The browser session segregation means that session cookies are not accessible by other tabs or windows in the main desktop browser, and are safe from any compromise or abuse from other sites.

4. Stripped Down. Another function of running a site as a pinned site in IE9 and Windows 7 is that the browser session opens without any browser helper objects (BHO) or add-on toolbars that might be installed in the desktop browser. With fewer extraneous apps running within and alongside the browser session, the potential attack surface is minimized and there are fewer opportunities for malicious exploits to attack.

There are other features and functions of Internet Explorer 9 that provide a safer and more secure Web surfing experience. IE9 also includes protection such as DEP and ASLR which have been proven to be vulnerable, but still provide additional layers of protection that can prevent the vast majority of Web-based attacks.

Orignal posted on yahoo.news

Tips to Troubleshoot a slow pc

2011-01-12T08:37:00.000+02:00

If your PC is running a bit more slowly than when you first bought it, you’re not alone. And, luckily you don’t have to just accept a slow computer. During this week’s TR Dojo episode, I explore five common culprits of system slowdowns and tell you how to address them.

For those who prefer text to video, you can click the Transcript link that appears below the video player window or check out Debra Littlejohn Shinder’s article, “10 tips for troubleshooting PC system slowdowns.”

Rogue Utilities

2010-12-17T07:04:00.001+02:00

This week the Rogue Blog reports a strong surge in a different type of rogue, one that pretends to be a system utility. Typical scareware pretends to be antivirus software, "finds" all kinds of threats, and demands that you pay before it will clean up the pretend problems it found. Utility-style scareware follows a similar pattern. It pretends to find errors on your system such as disk fragmentation or file system integrity problems. Naturally the scan is free; naturally you have to pay if you want to fix the alleged system problems.

The Rogue Blog post pointing out this trend includes numerous screenshots and identifies many of the culprits by name. UltraDefragger, ScanDisk, and WinHDD are among the real-sounding names used by current fraudulent system utilities.

How can you distinguish a fake optimization tool from a real one? If you see a report from a utility that you never installed and never launched, it's probably a fraud. If the utility comes advertised in a spam message, Sunbelt suggests you avoid it. The rogues invariably display dire warnings about system problems, but don't reject every warning. A legitimate disk utility might do the same if your system is truly failing.

Here's an odd one: apparently these rogue utilities will often tell you that you must update your browser to a version earlier than what you're actually running. If you're careful you can avoid getting burned. Don't ever rely on a third-party system utility that you didn't install or launch, as it's almost certainly a fraud.

Your antivirus software or security suite should protect you from rogues of any kind, providing you keep it up to date. And when you go shopping for disk tools do a little research to make sure they're legitimate. Check PCMag.com for reviews, to start, and Google the name to see if others are reporting problems. If you're still not sure, a visit to the Rogue Blog should clear up any confusion.

Originally posted on Yahoo News

Tech Scams to Avoid This Holiday

2010-11-25T15:00:00.000+02:00

The holiday shopping season is a great time to get tech products at discounted prices, but it also creates a golden opportunity for the Web's scam artists. The FBI, McAfee, the Better Business Bureau and F-Secure are all warning about cybercriminals who will try to take you for a ride this holiday season. Here are their most pertinent warnings and tips for staying safe:

The Infamous Free iPad

Bogus free iPad offers started popping up immediately after Apple's tablet went on sale, and they've since been banned from Facebook. Still, you might see similar offers around the Web, McAfee says, prompting you to buy other products as a condition of getting the free iPad. By now, you should realize it's too good to be true.

Gift Card Scams

That free $1,000 gift card offer you saw on Facebook? Bogus, of course. McAfee says that cybercrooks lure people into giving away their personal information or taking quizzes in exchange for these cards, which never arrive. The information is then sold to marketers or used for identity theft.

The FBI also says to use caution when purchasing gift cards through auction sites or classified ads. These can be fraudulent, and you won't get your money back. Buy directly from retailers instead.

Bogus Auctions and Classifieds

Here's a particularly tricky scheme pointed out by the FBI: On auction and classified sites, fraudsters use their own order forms to get payment details from holiday gift buyers. Then, they charge the victim's credit card and use a stolen credit card to buy the actual item, which is sent directly to the victim. In other words, you'll still get the product, but you might be liable for receiving stolen goods. To avoid this scam, be sure to use legitimate payment services like Paypal instead of providing money directly to the seller.

The feds also warn of a related scam for free or reduced-price shipping offered on auction and classified sites. The fraudsters provide fake shipping labels to the victim, and the product ends up being intercepted in transit, never delivered to its destination.

Malicious websites

For cybercriminals, spamming Google with bogus holiday gift pages is a yearly tradition. These pages could be loaded with malware or payment forms intended to steal your identity. F-Secure has created a list of what it thinks will be the highly targeted search terms this year, including Kinect for Xbox, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Amazon Kindle and Apple iPad.

Visit retailers' websites directly when possible, use Internet security software if you must and always check for "https" in the URL bar before ordering online to ensure that the page is secure.

Wi-Fi Hackers

Public Wi-Fi networks will get a workout this holiday season as people travel, McAfee notes. This is especially true with Google offering free Wi-Fi on domestic flights from three major airlines. Check out our security tips from Google's free Wi-Fi offer at airports last year, most of which are still relevant in the skies. Number one tip: Avoid shopping and paying bills over a public network.ls over a public network.
Originally posted on PCWorld

Smart Online Behavior Prevents Malware

2010-11-19T13:44:00.002+02:00

Malware is a term used to describe a broad category of damaging software that includes viruses, worms, trojan horses, rootkits, spyware, and adware. The effects of malware range from brief annoyance to computer crashes and identity theft. Malware is easier to avoid than it is to remove. Avoiding malware involves a two-part strategy. Follow these guidelines for staying safe.

The single biggest factor in preventing a malware infection on your PC is you. You don't need expert knowledge or special training. You just need vigilance to avoid downloading and installing anything you do not understand or trust, no matter how tempting, from the following sources:

From a website: If you are unsure, leave the site and research the software you are being asked to install. If it is OK, you can always come back to site and install it. If it is not OK, you will avoid a malware headache.

From e-mail: Do not trust anything associated with a spam e-mail. Approach e-mail from people you know with caution when the message contains links or attachments. If you are suspicious of what you are being asked to view or install, don't do it.

From physical media: Your friends, family, and associates may unknowingly give you a disc or flash drive with an infected file on it. Don't blindly accept these files; scan them with security software. If you are still unsure, do not accept the files.

From a pop-up window: Some pop-up windows or boxes will attempt to corner you into downloading software or accepting a free "system scan" of some type. Often these pop-ups will employ scare tactics to make you believe you need what they are offering in order to be safe. Close the pop-up without clicking anything inside it (including the X in the corner). Close the window via Windows Task Manager (press Ctrl-Alt-Delete).

From another piece of software: Some programs attempt to install malware as a part of their own installation process. When installing software, pay close attention to the message boxes before clicking Next, OK, or I Agree. Scan the user agreement for anything that suggests malware may be a part of the installation. If you are unsure, cancel the installation, check up on the program, and run the installation again if you determine it is safe.

From illegal file-sharing services: You're on your own if you enter this realm. There is little quality control in the world of illegal software, and it is easy for an attacker to name a piece of malware after a popular movie, album, or program to tempt you into downloading it.

Remove Malware With the Right Software

Chances are that no matter how careful you are, you will be infected some day. That's because malware is designed to sneak onto your computer in ways you can't possibly foresee. Enlist the help of the following software:

An updated operating system: Use Windows Update. Take advantage of its ability to automatically notify you of updates, or better yet, to automatically download and install updates.

An updated browser: No matter which browser you use, keeping it current is vital to preventing infection. Take advantage of your browser's pop-up blocking, download screening, and automatic update features.

Antivirus software: You must run an antivirus program to be safe. Keep it updated, turned on, and schedule a scan to run at least once a month. (Don't run two antivirus programs; they will interfere with one another.)

Anti-malware: Also called anti-spyware, many antivirus applications include an anti-malware component. If yours does not, install and use a standalone anti-malware program that does not conflict with your antivirus program. Keep it updated.

Firewall: If you aren't running a third-party firewall, use Windows Firewall. (Don't run two firewalls at once; they will interfere with one another.)

Spam filter: If your e-mail program is not adequately filtering spam from your in-box, consider additional spam filtering software. If your security software is a security suite, spam filtering may be a feature that you need to switch on.

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