Buy a new PC?

Operating System

Windows 7 with a 64 bit version is what you will generally get with a new PC. It is different from what you are used to but it is the future of  Windows.  XP will be getting less and less support in the future.

Now we will get to what you need to know that gives you the most bang for the buck.

How much memory do you need.
I think 2 gigabytes is the minimum you will need. Many units come with 4 gb.  If possible get 4 or more gigabytes

How big a hardrive?
For average use a 250 gb drive is fine. Have some music files? Then 500 gb might be better. Video or your favorite TV shows? 500 gb or more depending on how many hours of video you are going to store. The cost of a hardrive is pretty cheap.

How much processor power?
Much depends on what you use your PC for.
Is your primary use is email and surfing the web – then a dual core or better processor is going to be adequate for now.   Most new processors are dual core or 2 processors on one chip with quad core available. Speed ratings are becoming pointless except to compare speed within the processor line itself, like core duo or x2. Email me if you need a further explanation.


If you are a heavy duty game player, use a lot of video applications, or just have a need for speed, then you are in the quad core category. You know who you are. Unless you need to have cutting edge equipment and are willing to live with the problems of having the latest you can save a lot of money by building what you need.

So, Do think you might be ready for ...

One last thing to think about is buying a Apple Macintosh or Windows based machine.
A Mac is slightly more expensive than a Windows based machine but is much easier to use, rarely gets a virus and comes with most things you need. If most people used Mac's I would not repair many computers. Also Mac's have switched to Intel processors which means that you can run a copy of windows on a Mac. This was never possible before. With software you can now run Windows from inside a Mac which will really make things interesting.
What this comes down to is, unless you use a special windows only program on your computer you should look at a Mac  to see if it is you.
I do not use Mac's or Windows for myself. I use Linux which is a free software system that appeals to power users and people who like to tinker with computers. It is becoming more mainstream and could save you quite a bit of money. Ubuntu is a very easy to use Linux distribution that is free. I only use Windows for a few minor things having to do with my repair business.

Having Antivirus Does not Stop Malware

In a recent study of computers that went to a antivirus site it was found that almost a third of the computers with up to date Antivirus software had become infected.

What does this mean to you... It means that even though you think your are protected, you can and do still get virus's that work there way into your system.  What makes this worse is that once one of them gets in it tends to let others in as well.
I find it more and more difficult to protect your Windows computer.  Please read my other articles here about security and be vigilant.  Some signs....

• A icon shows up in your bottom right screen that you have not seen before.
• A program tells you that you have numerous viruses.
• Your computer seems to be slowing down or locking up unexpectedly.

It does not matter whether you paid for the software or are using a free version.  No single antivirus can protect you from the constant barrage of bugs being sent your way.

So what are you to do...
Keep your antivirus up to date.  Watch your computers behavior and get help quick if you suspect you have a problem.

Passwords

It has been a busy few weeks and the nasties on the internet are just getting more complex and hard to detect.  It is often the other trouble makers getting in on ports opened up by the first nasty that gives it away.  So with that lets take a look at…

Passwords -Why
For someone taking over your machine passwords to your credit card and or bank account is the prize.  With these and some personal information your identity is free for the taking.  But passwords are that which we are all horrible at keeping track of and remembering.

I first want to focus on what is a quality password.  The best passwords have numbers, letters (UPPER and lower) and special charectors (*&^%$#^”+).  The also are not words one would find in the dictionary.  A really great password would look like this  G*Lw^x2fJ1m^iB*-g+”:  this would take forever to break, but you would have to write it down to remember it which leaves it vunerable.
Also it would be quite a pain to type in.

So the first thing I would reccomend is a password manager.  There are many available and most are quite good.  I have settled on keepass since it runs on all my devices (win, linux, win mobile) and it is free.  http://keepass.info/  With a password manager you just need to remember one password. I like to use my single password by using one that I can easily remember of seven or more charectors (numbers and lowercase letters).  I first type this in and then I type it in again… but the second time I hold down the shift key.  By doing this on the main keypad my numbers will put out special charectors.

An example
How about the address of your cousin in another state that for some reason you always remember
Lets say it  is “2689 SE Cousin St”.  So I would type
2689secousin – then holding down the shift key – @^*(SECOUSIN – So the total effect is
2869secousin@^*(SECOUSIN  This is a 192 bit password and no one would have time to crack it.

Of course if they have physical access to the data they will get it by other means.  But  by using a password manager you can protect your accounts and slow down anyone trying to get at your data via a user/password account.    Most password managers will generate random passwords for you.  I do not know any of my passwords except the one that gets me into my password database.

Dan

Internet Explorer - Microsoft

Update January 27, 2010

Last month Internet Explorer had a vulnerability that allowed "Google" and many other large companies to be hacked.  The German government recommended that people quit using Internet Explorer.  The attack appears to have been sponsored in China.

Conficker Worm is a Real Threat

Conficker has received it's instructions and is starting to mutate. It is not only going to try to sell you virus removal software. It will OPEN up your computer to other bad things and disable your current anti-virus software.

How do I know if I have it?

Go here to get more info - Conficker Work Group

If you can read the chart you are not infected. If you are infected you need to get off the internet and get help to remove it.

Security Update - Internet Browsers

Internet Explorer 8 is out and within a week needed a security patch.  While it is much improved it is always asking permission to do something.  From a security standpoint this is good, but the user ends up just blindly agreeing to get to the next page.  Or the user just cancels and does not get to where they want to go.

There are other choices.

Opera - fast and smooth.  I use it as a backup browser and it is a favorite on portable devices like phones.  Has a built in mail client and reader.  

Safari - is the stock web browser that comes on a Mac.  It can also be used on Windows. 

Chrome - is based on Safari but has been re-worked by Google to be a fast and light web browser.  As of this date it is one of the most secure web browsers available.  It survived the first day of a hacking contest in Mid March.  Opera was not part of the contest.  

FireFox - is the most powerfull of the browsers and fairly secure.  The reason for this is primarily that it is open source (anyone can look at and modify the code for their own use).  So this allows lots of people to write add-on programs that make Firefox the most customizeable of the Browsers.

So... what do I reccomend?  

I cannot reccomend using Internet Explorer as your primary method of "surfing" the internet.  I would say it is even a bit like leaving your car unlocked with a sweater thrown over your valuables to protect them from theft.

 FireFox is still the more secure and has a endless amount of add ons that are extremely usefull.  I think it is a logical choice for many people.  This is certainly the case instead of Internet Explorer.

 Safari has had many security flaws over the last year and thus I am reluctant to reccomend it.  It was hacked in record time on a Mac.  Part of that is how the underlying operating system handles code.

Opera is a very nice Browser.  It is available on many more devices than any other browser.  I do not care for the closed nature, but that may be a plus.

Chrome is kind of minimalist and fast.  But currently only available on Windows.  I do use it on older machines and reccomend that you try it for yourself.

As I close up on this thought I just want to say that there are some nasty bugs on the horizon.  You need to start using passwords that are not easy to break.  I will share some thoughts on password management soon.

Virus, Malware and protecting yourself

OK
The last few months I have been very busy removing malware. In particular things with names like "Antivirus 2008" have been particularly difficult to remove. It knows the names of Antivirus and Spy protection software and the simple trick is to rename the executable file so it does not recognize it. But these little demons really put their hooks into the system. Much cheaper to backup and do a fresh install.

So what is Malware? It is Malicious Software. Mal from malicious and ware from software. It can be a virus or a trojan or any type of attack.

Protecting Yourself

1. Get something other than Internet Explorer. The month of November and December saw a scramble by Microsoft to fix vunerabilities in Interenet Explorer. You really cannot go wrong with FireFox 3. It is open and so security vunerabilites get fixed much more rapidly. I also am a fan of Opera 9 and Google Chrome. They are all free.
2. Get Antivirus software and keep it up to date. It is in everyones interest to keep clean computers so please keep up on this. There are Free versions of AVG, Avast and Anti-vir. They all work and they can all be targeted by people who write malicious code. So safe computing is a must. If you get mail from someone you do not know do not open it. If a window pops open and says that you are infected "shut off your computer". Unplug it from the wall and the internet. Wait 20 to 30 seconds before plugging it back in. Now this is important. If a program you do not know tells you that your computer is infected it is generally a lie and it is the infection. It also wants you to spend money to buy it. This is a scam. It is cheaper at this point to hire someone to check your computer.
3. Get rid of windows and have linux installed. Linux can do anything you want and it is free. You may have to hire someone to setup your printer or your wirless card, but the chance of ever getting a windows virus is very remote. Also Linux is Free. Linux is open source so security issues are generally found and fixed very quickly.
   
4. Not ready for linux... perhaps there is a Mac in your future. Mac's rarely get a virus. However they can get one and you should use a Anti-virus. Mac's are easy to use and for many people a better experience than Windows.

Last but not least practice safe computing. If your computer goes somewhere you do not know, close that browser now. You can restart it and see that your homepage is still in place.
If you get a email from someone with a attachment make sure you know them. Your software should scan emails.
After you download a file, right click on it and scan it with your antivirus or spyware.

Please go to my website and check out software that may help you keep your computer clean.
http://www.beckerconsulting.net/Help.html
Also any of you computer geeks reading this... It is faster to take the hd out of the pc and scan for virus's on your faster computer that is locked down tight against intrusion.

As a aside support open software when and where you can. This could eventually slow the spread of malware and security issues.