USEFUL TECH ADVICE

Anti Spyware and Adware Solutions

Is your PC infected?

Symptoms:

Slow PC & Slow Internet Speeds. Unknown errors keep appearing, forcing you to boot your PC.Unexplained software errors.Browser gets reset to unknown home page (mostly pornographic in nature).Nasty Popup ads open up in multiple windows.The favorite list has been changed.You receive a large number of unsolicited emails.Unknown errors force you to reboot your machine .Internet browsing speed are down to a crawl.

Causes:

Adware / Spy ware has infected system …

Possibly because:

You downloaded an executable file from unknown source. Many free .exe files and programs have adware bundled into them . That is what makes them free in the first place! Clicking on unknown links ( many unsavoury websites and free downloads cause this problem) may lead to adware installation .Some anti spy ware programs are rogue in nature . They infect instead of cure . Watch out for them. An example is spy sheriff which may infect and destroy a PC .Sometimes if you type an incorrect URL address of a well known site , you may get redirected and your PC gets infected . An example is the website of well known antivirus provider Symantec . If you spell the URL incorrectly , with an “ i” instead of “e” , your PC is likely to be infected by winfix, which is very difficult to get rid of.Opening emails from unknown sources can also cause this problem.

Why bother?

Ad ware may not be malicious , in that it may simply show some POP up ads when you least expect them . The problem arises when these programs ( spy wares) , transmit your personal data to unknown untrustworthy individuals. A keylogger for example will record your keystrokes and send data pertaining to your passwords outside the system . This can be a problem especially if you use online banking or shop online. The other problem is that too many ad ware infections can dramatically slow down your PC and curtail internet speeds. Some ad ware programs are known to destroy files from the operating system and render PC useless , although these ,may be better categorized as viruses.
POP up ads can turn out to be very embarrassing especially , if they are unsavoury in nature. So watch out!

Some well known nasty ad ware/Spy ware programs are CoolWebSearch(CWS), Bargain Buddy , ISTBar, Gator, Navi Search, CashBack Buddy, Bulls Eye Network. .They have number of variants and new malicious spy ware keeps getting invented and put up on the net . Some of them are very difficult to get rid off , as they infect and amend registry files and take on aliases which are very difficult to detect and destroy. Many popular anti spy ware soft wares cannot destroy them completely and provide only temporary relief.

Anti Virus software VS Anti Spy ware software.

Most popular anti virus software cannot even detect spy ware so they are useless when it comes to trying to destroy them. You need to install an anti Spy ware software on your PC to continuously detect and destroy suspicious activity. Some popular and trusted software are : Ad-Aware , Spy Sweeper, Spybot – Search & Destroy , HijackThis , System Mechanic, Stinger, Microsoft windows anti spyware, Spyware blaster, Spyware Doctor ( The list is not comprehensive and is for guidance only).

Infected ? What to do ??

Use any popular anti spyware software to run a scan. Some of the ad ware and spy ware will be detected and destroyed in the first attempt itself. But this is not the final solution for many spyware. Do run at least 3 different anti spyware software simultaneously to try and kill the infection. Many spyware infections are not cured completely by one anti spyware software. You may have to use specialized software like cwshredder for CWS and its variants etc. Some ad ware is easily detected by a software which will detect running processes on your PC . Newer versions of Windows have tools which will help you detect unknown processes. Identify and quarantine these processes for relief.

I suggest every PC user scan his PC for spy ware and key loggers routinely. Make use of the free scan offers from various scan engines and you may be surprised to find hidden cookies and sometimes malicious code on your hard drive.

Check the latest bulletin boards on the net for solutions. Many other people are similarly infected and have already found a solution, which they will share with you for free!If nothing works, you may need to format your HDD and reload windows. This is unfortunate so try to avoid the infection in the first place.

How to avoid infection?

Use common sense . Download from trusted sites only. There is no free stuff on the net . You have to pay a price if not in cash then in ad wares or spy wares.Avoid unsavoury sites . Easier said than done for a majority of users. So keep an anti spyware software active and monitoring processes.

Keep your Windows program updated with the latest service packs . This helps as the newer Microsoft fixes do not allow automatic downloads and infections. You get better control.Avoid closing POP up windows by pressing the ‘YES ‘ or ‘NO’ tabs as they may be reverse engineered . Use CTR+ALT+DEL to close unknown window pop ups.Avoid clicking on unknown emails and do not run .exe files of unknown origin.

Play safe on the net and keep your PC alive and well …


Computer Monitor Specs.

While buying a PC , we have the choice of picking a monitor of our choice. It is important to pick the right monitor as the implications can be long term.As we upgrade our PC 's , we would normally upgrade the CPU leaving the monitor as it is. This means we could be staring at the same monitor for a long long time. It is therefore important to choose the right monitor which suits our budget and takes into account the future.

The different hardware technologies currently available commercially are as follows:

CRT : Cathode Ray Tube Monitors

They work by firing beams of electrons at phosphor dots on the inside of a glass tube. The phosphors are chemicals that emit red, green or blue light when hit by electrons. These monitors are capable of multiple resolutions, give the best look to full-motion video and provide better control over color calibration for graphic artists. They are similar to the picture tube inside a normal television set and are cost effective and big in size. They are cheap because the technology has been available for a long long time and they are mass produced. Mass production has led to fall in prices over time and they are easily available. They are easy to service and are sturdy. These days, we can also find Flat CRT's , which reduce the glare and distortion produced by a conventional CRT. These may be slightly more expensive but do score over the conventional CRT's in performance and screen size.

LCD : Liquid Crystal Display Monitor

In the screen of an LCD monitor, each pixel is produced by a tiny cell, which contains a thin layer of liquid crystals. These rod-shaped molecules bend light in response to an electric current. They are commonly used in laptops and are now being used in desktops also. They are slim and light weight. LCD's tend to be clearer than CRT's with little focus or convergence problems. LCD monitors are able to display higher resolutions and hence more clarity. However lower end LCD monitors have only one optimal resolution. At optimal resolution, they can display small text clearly, however at lower resolutions the LCD monitor may show an odd kind of blown up image. A variant of an LCD monitor which is more expensive and with better display properties is TFT (Thin- Film Transistors) monitor. However one drawback with LCD monitors is the reduced viewing angle. The image visibility may be severely compromised at wider angles reducing the number of people who can view the same image with one LCD monitor.

Plasma Screens Display Monitor

Plasma Display Panels (PDP) are emissive flat panel displays where light is created by phosphors excited by a plasma discharge between two flat panels of glass. Plasma displays are bright (1000 lx (Lux) or higher for the module), have a wide color range, and can be produced in fairly large sizes -- up to 262 centimeters (103 inches) diagonally. The display panel is only about 6 centimeters (2 1/2 inches) thick, while the total thickness, including electronics, is less than 10 centimeters. They are slim, have a wide viewing angle, a very bright image and are very high quality and also very fragile. If used as computer monitors they can add value to the PC experience, but are always in the danger of being damaged. They are still very expensive and difficult to repair.

The Future

The future may belong to cheaper plasma monitors which are more durable, slimmer and high end. Research is also being done on Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display (SED) and Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) displays. These may improve upon the characteristics of the plasma screens , however they are still some time in the future. The current focus is on reducing the prices of plasma screen monitors to make them affordable to a wider range of people. The focus is also on improving durability and better cheaper after sale service.

While taking a purchase decision for a computer monitor, it is important to understand the following distinguishing features. A better understanding of the following characteristics of a monitor can lead to better informed decisions. These common technical specifications of a monitor will distinguish monitors in terms of price and performance.

Size: Monitors are measured in terms of its Diagonal length. That is why a flat screen will be bigger compared to a conventional CRT which has a curvature shape to its screen. Normally bigger the screen size, higher the price.

Resolution:This is a most important technical specification determining image quality and visibility. This is determined on the amount of individual pixels on a screen, measured horizontally by vertically. Resolution of a screen remains the same no matter the screen size, so a 17" screen with a 1024 x 768 resolution will show a clearer picture than a 23" screen with a 1024 x 768 resolution, due to a lower dot pitch.

Some common standards are as follows:
XGA (Extended Graphic Array) has a resolution of 1024 X 768 Pixels
SXGA (Super) has a resolution of 1280 X 1024 Pixels
UXGA (Ultra) has a resolution of 1600 X 1200 Pixels
QXGA (Quad) has a resolution of 2048 X 1536 Pixels
WXGA (Wide) has a resolution of 1280 X 800 Pixels
WSXGA+ ( Wide SXGA plus) has a resolution of 1680 X 1050 Pixels
WUXGA (Wide Ultra) has a resolution of 1920 X 1200 Pixels

Before a purchase decision is made, it is important to compare the resolution of various monitors.The image clarity is dependent upon the resolution supported by the monitor. Do also check, if the monitor can support multiple resolutions.Dot Pitch:A computer monitor displays an image made up of millions of pixels, or 'dots'. Dot pitch refers to the distance between each pixel. The lower the dot pitch, the less distance between pixels, and the sharper the image. Normally display monitors with a lower dot pitch will be slightly more expensive but will be worth the price in the long term.Refresh Rate: This refers to how many times per second a screen can redraw itself, or 'refresh'. To avoid flickering, a screen must have a refresh rate of at least 72 Hz. This is the minimum. Try to find monitors with a high refresh rate to avoid the flickering problem.Aspect ratio:Aspect ratio is the width of your computer monitor versus the height of your monitor. The traditional monitor has an aspect ratio of 4:3, and some wide screen monitors have an aspect ratio of 16:9 (sometimes 15:9 or 16:10). Find a an optimal ratio that supports your space and your inclination.When buying a computer monitor, it is important to balance out the various properties and prioritize your requirements. Look for the best monitor, within your budget and try to go for better image clarity, flexible resolution and a light weight thin monitor which will look contemporary for a long time.

Free Anti Virus Solutions

My friend recently bought a PC and asked me about some free anti Virus tools and resources. It seems , he was in no mood to shell out additional USD 20 to USD 40 a year for anti virus software , which he said, should rightfully be free with the Operating System. “ They are bundling so many useless things with the operating system but for the really important things , these guys just draw the line” . “ Yeah , of course , that is how the software vendors make their money , year after year after year “ , I replied. “ Once you buy a particular anti- virus software , you are de facto tied to the vendor for the life of the PC for upgrades , new virus definitions etc" . Great way to ensure repeat business, I thought without any major marketing expense.“How do I avoid this situation and also enjoy the best of virus protection ?”, he asked.This got me thinking. I checked the web, talked to some smart operators and used some common sense to come to some solutions.- Download Free anti Virus software- Use it for the time it is free- Uninstall it , when the free period is over- Download a new anti Virus software for free- Keep enjoying free protection for a long long time in this fashion…..till maybe they start bundling anti virus protection with the Operating System for free.Are there any foreseeable problems using this methodology?Not really. For a reasonably smart operator there are many Free Anti Virus resources available. One has to just search and look around a bit to find the best solution for your PC. Read and research a bit to understand what is available. Anti virus companies are facing stiff competition from new upstarts and there will always be free high quality anti virus resources available for home PC users. Given the market breadth and competition, there will always be free stuff.Is all this stuff really free? Mostly yes.. but for a limited period of time maybe 3 months to a year in some cases. Some resources are free for a long time.. up to 2 years so check out various sources and you maybe able to avoid buying this software for ever! However there might be Ad ware bundled with this free package, which you will have to tolerate. Some of these free softwares may not have anti Spam or anti Spy ware functionality, which is very important, so download these for free from else where.. (I will write about them in my next blog post) .These free softwares also allow virus definitions to be updated, free for the period of trial. In case, they have any restriction on updating of the virus definitions, avoid downloading same.I am giving below some companies offering Free Anti Virus Downloads ( in the form of trials .. so that we get hooked to them, yeah , we are smarter than they think ! )Avast 4 Home Edition is free to download and use for a year. ( or more) .AVG Anti virus software is free for the home user till the foreseeable future.Mc Afee anti Virus protection is free for 90 days trial.Ez Anti virus from Computer Associates is free to use for one year.F- Secure anti virus software is available for the home user for 6 months as a free trial.Panda Platinum internet security software is free for 90 days .Norton Anti Virus is Free to use for 90 days .Trend Micro is offering it’s PC- Cillin Internet Security system free for a trial period of 90 days .Remember these soft wares are free for the home PC user only.They offer free virus definition upgrades also.Do not fall into the trap of paying for this stuff when trial period expires. There is always free stuff on the net. Unless of course, you are suitably impressed, and hooked to their performance.Uninstall this software when trial period expires and clean up the registry with a ‘free utility’.Install a new software before going on the net.Enjoy Free Anti Virus protection.Long live the web.


SPAM now. Stop

I was talking to some of my not so computer literate friends the other day and asked them, “What is the single most irritating thing about the internet these day?”. Surprisingly they replied; “SPAM”. “ It clogs up the mail server”, they said. “I waste so much time reading useless stuff”. “I have to log in to my account, just to clear SPAM” and they went on and on.
I realized that these people were using the net primarily for communication with emails and SPAM was a major problem for them. This got me thinking on some easy solutions and, this is when I realized, that this problem has no easy cure. Especially for those of us who donot have server side access and cannot try and block spam before it gets to our PC.
Spam filtering is one way to reduce the impact of the problem on the individual user. However this filtering is done at the individual computer level and has no effect on clogged servers. In the simplest form, a Spam filter is a mechanism for classifying a message as either Spam or not Spam. Using this categorization , one can stop SPAM from disturbing one’s routine by creating an anti spam folder in outlook express and say putting all messages categorized as SPAM into this folder automatically. Although not an ideal anti spam solution, it can at least help in prioritizing urgent work over SPAM. The ideal solution would be to stop all messages categorized as SPAM at the server itself so that the individual may not have to download any useless stuff. But this kind of an anti Spam server is fraught with problems relating to your right to information (including Spam) and also loss of useful and high priority information. How you may ask?
I will explain why.
The common technologies which Anti SPAM programs can use are the following:
Spam MarkersAn anti SPAM program may look for common spam subjects, known spammer addresses, known mail forwarding machines or servers and common spam phrases to categorize a message
as SPAM or Non SPAM.
Known SendersThe end user may accept all messages from known senders (so categorized in the, say address book) and block all other messages as SPAM.
Bayesian filteringThis methodology is now the most popular and classifies messages as Spam or Non Spam using a filtering technique based on a mathematical algorithm. This methodology may be explained as below:You may take a large number of messages categorized as Spam and Non Spam . Using this database of messages, a Bayesian Spam filter will look for common tokens or commonalities within Spam and Non Spam messages. The Spam filter will then use a mathematical algorithm to detect and categorize these common tokens. When a new message arrives on the server, the filter will check if that message meets a minimum threshold number of points before categorizing them as Spam or Non Spam.
Seems ideal does it not?
The limitations of all these techniques is that they are not 100% accurate and if the message is not downloaded and is blocked at the server itself , then the individual may actually lose valuable data or valuable information. It is far better to find Spam in your outlook express folder rather than block a valuable message. So I suggest, use a Spam filtering program which does not block a message but simply categorizes same as Spam or Non Spam and puts it into a separate folder which you may browse at leisure and delete at leisure when time is not a priority. A hell of a way to spend your spare time, you may say .. but the alternative can be dangerous.
The Bayesian filter needs a large number of messages in the data base before it can give reasonable accurate results so you have to be careful before you activate same on your machine.A good anti Spam program will use a combination of various anti spam techniques and methodologies to be effective. I suggest a few of the below. Most of them are free to download, so go ahead and experiment.
Check out : SpamAssassin, SpamBully, Ifile, Lockspam, Bogofilter, SPASTIC, SpamProbe, SpamBouncer, Quick Spam Filter, Bayesian Mail Filter & Dspam.The list is not exhaustive and has various kinds of filters. Some of them use the Bayesian technique (so you will have to ‘train’ them well and update training regularly), some of them use anti spam templates (so they may be ideal for you), and some of them are content based anti spam filters. Check out what works best for you. But I may repeat – do not ask these filters to delete mails categorized as Spam automatically but rather do it manually so that you do not lose a valuable genuine mail by mistake. No Anti Spam program is 100% foolproof.
Happy Anti Spamming. Stop Spam Now.