Your Daily Computer Security Tips

I have several email boxes, and am being forced to abandon one of them because of the onslaught of spam. I am getting up to 200 junk messages a day.

I came across a little tip that may help you reduce the daily flood. It seems that email addresses that start with letters from early in the alphabet get more junk mail. Addresses that start with letters from later in the alphabet should get less spam.

This occurs because many spammers send out their flood of spam in alphabetical order. If you have an email address that starts with a letter from the latter part of the alphabet, you may not get a particular spam email because the spammer’s or your ISP might block the spam before it gets to you.

Or another server or node on the Internet may recognize it as spam and block it. So you could just put an X or Z in front of your email address.

Sounds like it’s worth a try!

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Here are a couple of notes I’ve been meaning to mention to you, when I got the chance. So here goes:

Turn it off… sometimes

Do you leave your computer on all the time? And you just let it go into hibernation mode? Nothing wrong with that. But every few days, you should do a hard reboot.

This lets Windows clean itself up and start fresh. Temporary files and fragments from your previous operations are dumped. Click Start, Turn Off Computer, Restart.

This applies equally well to other OS such as Linux, and even for a Mac.

Remove … safely

Do you use a flash (USB) drive for backups, or other purposes? I sure do. I love the little beasties. But they must be removed (unplugged) properly.

One way to do that is to click the icon in your system tray, on the bottom right. It has a green arrow over a little grey disk drive. You will see something like “Safely remove USB Mass Storage Device …”.

Click on it, then remove the USB drive. Or you may see an Eject button on one of the screens or popups produced by your flash drive. Use that if you prefer.

Do not simply pull out the drive when you are finished working with it. You could damage it, or lose data.

Do you have a Vista computer, and long for the good ol’ days of Windows XP? Maybe you have some old programs that won’t run under Vista. Or perhaps you are just used to XP. Well, take heart. There are several things you can do. Ummm, well, two anyway. First, visit Microsoft’s Vista compatibility site to see if you can work out your problems. Go here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/

No luck? Then the other thing to do is run XP virtually, within Vista. To do this, you should have 2GB of RAM in the PC, and a fairly good processor. You will also need a legal copy of XP, and the original disks. Now download and install the free Virtual PC 2007 from Microsoft here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx

Launch the program and click Action, New Virtual Machine Wizard. This will guide you through the installation of XP. You will be asked how much RAM you want to allocate to XP. The minimum should be 512MB. Go through the steps; it is similar to a regular XP installation, and will take about an hour.

Finally, you will probably want to install some extras, so you can move files between the two operating systems, which don’t forget are running simultaneously. Launch XP, and click Action, Install or Update Virtual Machine Additions.

I have often repeated that you must keep your antivirus program up to date (as well as all your other security programs of course). But what if your antivirus software finds a virus or other malware?

The program will delete or quarantine the nasty stuff, or present you with options to fix the problem. But that is not the end of the story. It is a good idea to then delete all your Restore Points.

Restore Points are complete system snapshots that Windows takes from time to time, or you can make one yourself anytime, say before installing new software. If you have a problem with your computer, you can roll it back to one of these Restore Points, when all was well.

The problem is that some Restore Points may have been made while your computer was infected with a virus. Going back to that Point will re-infect your computer. Viruses love to hide in Restore Points, because antivirus programs cannot usually find them there.

So to delete all your Restore Points, click Start, Control Panel, System, System Restore tab. Check the box next to “Turn off System Restore”. Click Apply and wait. Click OK. Reboot your computer.

Now you must turn System Restore back on. Click Start, Control Panel, System, System Restore tab. Clear the check mark beside “Turn off System Restore”. Click Apply. Click OK.

One of the problems with Vista was its incompatibility with some hardware, and especially software. You often needed to update your drivers, but sometimes the problem was more serious.

If you are planning to switch to Vista soon, or already have, you should visit this new Microsoft site for help with compatibility issues:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/

Note the Hardware and Software tabs. There is also a search function for quick results. And don’t overlook all the links at the bottom of the page.

Don’t you just hate it when you get an email that has been forwarded several times, and it has all those angle brackets down the left hand side? You would like to forward it to your friends also, am I right? But you know that will only add to those messy brackets. Well, fear not, because you can get rid of them in a minute or two!

Copy the entire email, and paste it into a good word processor such as MS Word (not Notepad or WordPad). Click Ctrl + F. This brings up the Find and Replace box. Click the Replace tab. In the Find what: field, put an angle bracket, like this: click and hold your right hand Alt key, and press the right hand angle bracket key just above it. That Alt key may be marked Alt Gr or something similar.

Now click in the lower field, to move the cursor there. Hit the space bar once, to insert a space, and click Replace All. What this does is to replace all right hand angle brackets with a space! Voila, problem solved.

Just copy and paste the email back into a new email, and you are good to go. Once you have done this a few times, it will go very fast. This is just common courtesy for your recipients, especially if it is a formal or business email.

Speaking of emails, click here to read about the hidden dangers of email forwarding.

Syd Tash is a noted computer security consultant and author of How to Protect Your Computer Online. He has been keeping Internet surfers safe and secure since the last century. Find out how he does it; protect your own computer with five layers of protection right here: = > http://MyPCSecuritySite.com

You may include these Tips in your Web sites and publications, provided they remain unchanged and include the above paragraph, with the author’s name and Web site. You can also get a direct URL to this post. Click the title, then copy the URL in the browser address bar.

Is your computer running slower than it used to? Does it freeze occasionally? This is a classic symptom of spyware or other malware. Scan your PC for spyware/adware and viruses.

Then take a look in your Startup folder to see if some unnecessary programs have muscled their way in. Click Start, Run. Type “msconfig” into the box, without the quotes, and click OK. Click the Startup tab. Now you will see a list of programs and applications. The ones that are checked will start automatically when Windows loads. The more of them there are, the slower your computer will start up and run.

Look through the list, and uncheck any you do not need or want. If you do not recognize a name, search on it at your favorite search engine to see what it is. Remember that unchecking a box does not delete the program. It simply prevents it from loading when Windows starts. You can always find the program in your All Programs list.

Minimize the number of these instant on programs, and your computer should run faster. After making changes, click Apply, Close.

Syd Tash is a noted computer security consultant and author of How to Protect Your Computer Online. He has been keeping Internet surfers safe and secure since the last century. Find out how he does it; protect your own computer with five layers of protection right here: = > http://MyPCSecuritySite.com

You may include these Tips in your Web sites and publications, provided they remain unchanged and include the above paragraph, with the author’s name and Web site. You can also get a direct URL to this post. Click the title, then copy the URL in the browser address bar.

Back in July I talked about Safe Mode, its uses, how to launch it other than by pressing F8, etc. I also said that I would explain how to use it to try and recover lost Windows passwords, so here goes:

If you lost the password on a Limited or Guest account, log in on the main or Administrator account. Click Start, Control Panel. User Accounts. Click the account in question, click Change the password, and follow the steps. Be aware that some information such as encrypted files or email may not be available with the new password. But what if you lost your Administrator password? That is where the fun starts.

Here are a few things to try. First, try to remember the password; get friends or family members to help you. Next, start Windows in Safe Mode. You will see the Administrator account listed as a user. Click it. No luck? Reboot, and at the Welcome screen, press Ctrl-Alt-Del together, twice, and you will get the Windows login screen. Try to log in by leaving the password field blank, or try “password” for the password (no kidding).

If nothing works, you may have to reinstall Windows. If you can somehow get into the Administrator account, go here for some tools to recover your password: http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/ or for advanced users, http://www.oxid.it/cain.html

Here is a thought: Avoid all these difficulties by making a Password Reset Disk now, before you have these problems! You will need a floppy disk and drive. In Win XP, log in as the Administrator. Click Start, Control Panel, User Accounts, Change an account. Click on your Administrator user name. On the left, click “Prevent a forgotten password”, and follow the Wizard.

When you are done, write-protect the disk and keep it in a safe place. The procedure for Vista is very similar. Now, no matter how many times you change your password, this disk will allow you (or anybody who possesses it!) to create a new password. Just insert the disk and boot up.

Syd Tash is a noted computer security consultant and author of How to Protect Your Computer Online. He has been keeping Internet surfers safe and secure since the last century. Find out how he does it; protect your own computer with five layers of protection right here:
=> http://MyPCSecuritySite.com

You may include these Tips in your web sites and publications provided they remain unchanged and include the above paragraph, with the author’s name and web site.

This post is not really about computer security. But I could not resist telling you about this video on YouTube. It shows how to charge up your iPod with just an onion and some Powerade or Gatorade.

It is great if you are away from your computer or charger, and desperate for some comforting hard rock from your trusty (but dead) iPod. I have not tried this with my own iPods, but you can judge for yourself here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfPJeDssBOM

On a somewhat more serious subject, a new version of the Firefox browser is coming, called Firefox 3. It is now in Beta testing. Bookmarks will be improved, allowing you to sort them by topic.

There will be a Places function, so you can quickly go to frequently visited but not bookmarked sites. A new button will permit you to quickly and easily add a site to the bookmark list.

Also on the way is the ability to resume interrupted downloads if the connection is lost. The final consumer version of Firefox 3 is not expected for a few more months.

Syd Tash is a noted computer security consultant and author of How to Protect Your Computer Online. He has been keeping Internet surfers safe and secure since the last century. Find out how he does it; protect your own computer with five layers of protection right here: => http://MyPCSecuritySite.com

You may include these Tips in your web sites and publications provided they remain unchanged and include the above paragraph, with the author’s name and web site.

Today we will look at the second of three ways to tackle virus and spyware infections on your computer. 

If you have had a serious virus or spyware problem and have cleaned your computer, you should delete your Restore Points.  These are snapshots of your system taken by Windows, which are stored periodically.  If you have a problem, you can go back in time to one of these points, when things were working fine.

However, if the snapshot was created when you had a virus or spyware, then the Restore Point is contaminated with the virus, etc.  If you use this Restore Point, it will re-infect your computer.

To delete old Restore Points, click Start, Control Panel, System, System Restore tab.  Check the box next to “Turn off System Restore”.  Click Apply, OK, and reboot the computer.   

Now turn System Restore back on:  click Start, Control Panel, System, System Restore tab.  Clear the check mark beside “Turn off System Restore”.  Click Apply, OK.

Syd Tash is a noted computer security consultant and author of How to Protect Your Computer Online.  He has been keeping Internet surfers safe and secure since the last century.  Find out how he does it; protect your own computer with five layers of protection right here:  => http://MyPCSecuritySite.com  

You may include these Tips in your web sites and publications provided they remain unchanged and include the above paragraph, with the author’s name and web site.