I’ve answered questions about working in the cloud in several previous columns, but this week’s question is specifically about storing files and sharing them in the cloud. One of the best free services for online file sharing and syncing for years has been Dropbox. It’s amazing how many technological inventions start out with an individual entrepreneur whose innovations drive the market to match or exceed the original ideas.
Internet Doomsday! DCWG! What’s all the fuss? This week’s question comes from a retired high school principal who wants to know if DCWG is legit. Yes it is and a very helpful site to help you determine if you are part of the DNS Changer Trojan infection that is in the news and headed toward a July 9 critical point.
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Grandma was slow, but…You remember the saying. But why is your computer so slow? This remains one of my top 5 questions from clients and readers of this column. Let’s break this question down to three parts: the computer itself can be slow, due to hardware or software issues; your network can be slow or maybe your browser is slow.
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“But, I just opened an email from a friend of mine and…” The first indication that anything was wrong was when you got a call from a friend of yours complaining about an email he’d just received from you. “Your email account must have been hacked because I really don’t believe you meant to send me an ad for Viagra. “ The second indication was you received a slew of undeliverable emails that were returned and you hadn’t sent any of them. You blushed to read some of the messages. What had happened?
Of late, the MO for these attacks seems to be sending an email from one friend to another and including, not a virus itself, but a link to website that has the infection. But you say, “Friends don’t spam friends”. The subject line of the email can be something as innocuous as “hey” or “hello”. Once you open the email, you’re enticed to go to the infected website with a line like “Wow, look at this”. If you close the email and delete at this point, you’re OK, but once you click the infected URL, the deed is done. Once that happens you’re part of the chain., sending bogus messages of your own.
You’ve been hacked or at the least, one of your friends has been hacked. In the case of a friend being hacked, he may be sending out spam using names from his address book (you) as the sender. This is not quite as bad, since your PC is not compromised, but it can still be embarrassing. But let’s assume you have been hacked. The first thing you need to do is change your email password and quickly; the thing worse than having your password hacked is having your password changed. Now you can’t get into your account, but the hacker can. The only way out of this dilemma is to talk with your email provider. In the case of Bellsouth (att.yahoo mail) that’s easier said than done. You’ll also have to convince them that you are the real owner of the account (SSN, security questions, date of birth, etc).
Once your password is changed you’re safer, but not done. Do yourself a favor, go ahead and choose a safer password this time. Now you understand why you don’t want to use the same password for all your accounts, especially important ones like email and banking. Now check all the other settings of your email account. For example if it allows forwarding, make sure no one is forwarding to their account without your knowledge.
Now run your regular antivirus scan to see if any malware was installed. I also recommend running some other cleanup tools like MBAM that I’ve described in previous columns. Super-Antispyware is another good free cleaner of malware. You’ll want to monitor your emails closely for a while and look for any suspicious incoming or outgoing.
Till next week, send your questions to:
geekspeak@mchsi.com & See GeekSpeak by Jim Hall at http://hallsts.com where you may comment directly on my blog
Written by Jim Hall. Email your questions to geekspeak@mchsi.com . You can find Jim online at HallsTrainingSolutions.com
I read several technology columns every week (day, month) and one guru that I have followed for 12 to 14 years is Bob Rankin. I read his posts and newsletters not only for technical knowledge but also for his style and his penchant for saying the truth. This week he nails another techie pet peeve with a newsletter about “Crapware”. His definition: “Crapware” is a crude but apt term for unnecessary software loaded onto computers by hardware vendors. It may include trial versions of software that have limited functionality, demos that are nothing more than advertisements, and shareware utilities that duplicate functions already built into Windows. Vendors get paid a little bit for including each piece of crapware on their computers, and a bit more every time a customer upgrades one of those trial versions to a paid version.”
One of the things I do for clients when setting up a new computer (in addition to making it secure) is remove much of the crapware. Much of the crapware is either trial offers or advertising directed to some particular website. It’s more than annoying because it does slow down your startups and the popups keep you from doing what you want to do. I use a free program called The PC Decrapifier which you can download from MajorGeeks.com. The program itself is very small and intuitive to use. You simply install and check the programs that you want to remove and it will uninstall each in its turn without much input from you. If you are impressed with what the software does, you can send them $5 (CNET did a review of this program in September of 2011).
Microsoft has been direct selling PCs without the annoying crapware from their online store and their own retail stores and they claim that the streamlined versions start about 40% faster. They call these units Signature Edition PCs. Recently they have announced a new Signature service which will strip the third party crapware off your PC for only $99. Let’s see how this works. Microsoft sells Windows to the hardware guy. Third party software guy pays the hardware guy to install the crapware. Then Microsoft offers to take the crapware off for $99. Perfectly legal advertising scheme I guess, but sounds a little circuitous. I just don’t think it’s a business model that inspires confidence.
Hence my suggestion; buy your new PC from whoever has the best price for all the bells and whistles you want, then remove the crapware yourself. If you are not sure which software to take off, just Google “top applications removed by PC Decrapifier” and see what others are removing. One caveat, the hardware manufacturer also puts what I consider crapware on and you may have to remove some of that separately.
Till next week, send your questions to:
geekspeak@mchsi.com
See GeekSpeak by Jim Hall at http://hallsts.com where you may comment directly on my blog
Written by Jim Hall. Email your questions to geekspeak@mchsi.com . You can find Jim online at HallsTrainingSolutions.com
It’s that time of year again. Graduations, vacations and lots of weddings mean you’ll want to capture and display those memories for posterity. This week’s question comes from a reader who wanted to make a slide show or video of her son’s memories to be played at his graduation party. She wanted software readily available and easy to use, and free would be good. There are many choices available depending on whether you are Mac or PC and what you are already doing with your pictures; but I recommended using Windows Live Move Maker (WLMM) which is free for the download to anyone using Windows 7 or Vista with Service Pack 2.
Choosing the software might be the easiest part of this project since its use is fairly intuitive; but planning and setting up for the project is crucial as it makes for a smooth execution. Here are some tips to make the project easy.
First make yourself a workspace. I recommend creating a folder like”Graduation”. Inside that folder make a folder for Pictures, one for Music (if you choose to add some), another for WLMM Project files and one for versions of the final Video. You’ll be making different versions of the project and keep them in an editable form so that you can add, subtract and rearrange pics, add music, add titles and make timing adjustments to perfect the finished product. Once you have a product you like, you’ll convert the project files to a video and most likely after you play it a few times, you’ll make another with still more adjustments.
Next select your pictures. This may be one of the hardest parts. You have 2000 pics and you must get it down to a number that will make an interesting but not boring presentation. My rule of thumb is shoot for 100 to 150 pics; you’ll want to display them for maybe 3 seconds each and 150 will run for about 7 and a half minutes which is probably enough for even your closest friends and relatives. You can make a longer version for yourself. After you make your selection, resize them smaller. You don’t need a 12 megapixel pic to make a good video, especially to show on a laptop screen
Now choose your music clips, in some kind of MP3 form and remember you want to play enough of each clip to keep from sounding choppy. Three or four clips are plenty in a project of this size. Remember that if you buy copyrighted music you may only share it from your PC with your friends. Add your pictures to the project and rearrange them as you like; it’s easy to preview your creation at any time. Choose transitions, timing and animations if you like. Add titles where needed; credits if you want. Get all this stuff set, before you start adding music clips. The beginning and ending of music tracks is one of the most difficult tasks of the project. If your work is interrupted at any point, just save the project as a “project” and you can pick it back up later. Now add your music and adjust the audio and video tracks so that they are synced. If it doesn’t match exactly, just fade the music out at the ends of scenes so it won’t disrupt your audience.
Once you have everything synced; then save it in the format you want to use. You can choose, Burn to DVD, Use on My Computer, Email or even Play on a Mobile Device.
Make some memories and make a movie and till next week, send your questions to:
geekspeak@mchsi.com
Written by Jim Hall. Email your questions to geekspeak@mchsi.com . You can find Jim online at HallsTrainingSolutions.com
Rumor has it that the new Windows OS, called Windows 8 will be released in October of this year. You can try out a beta version by downloading from Microsoft now. Thus the question from a reader, “Should I wait until release of Win 8 before I buy a new PC?” The short answer is no! Go ahead and enjoy the benefits of Win 7, a proven performer and it’s time to retire Win XP anyway. Hear my reasoning.
As I have mentioned in this column recently; one of the major forces driving technology in general and computers in particular is mobility. Operating Systems that work well on a desktop or laptop PC do not necessarily mesh well with mobile devices. Restrictions in the size of the monitoring screen come into play, but more importantly mobile devices are rapidly moving to touch rather than mouse/keyboard type inputs. Microsoft has been a little behind the curve on mobile OS development and expects to close that gap with Windows 8 which features a mobile friendly “Metro” interface that will be compatible with touch. This part of Win 8 won’t bring anything extra to your desktop experience and if MS is not careful, it could cause some transition problems for recent Win 7 adopters who are just getting comfortable after being rooted off their old XP machines.
I’m afraid Microsoft will experience another opportunity to ruffle the feathers of some of their loyal customer base, just as they did when transitioning from Win 98 to Win ME and again from Win XP to Vista. Now mind you, I am not predicting that Win 8 will be a bomb like ME or Vista, I’m just saying…
If you are the type who likes to wait and see on a new product, this is a good time to exercise that caution. Besides, your alternative is to buy a proven OS, Win 7 that still has much of its useful life ahead of it. If you expect to get 5 years from an OS, you’ll be able to get it from Win 7.
On the other hand if you are in the market for some new mobile devices (phones, note pads, etc), I think it’s worth a shot to try out the new Win 8 mobile OS versions when they are available. I’m confident that MS is serious about the mobile market.
I have read many and varied revues of the Win 8 beta versions (mind you they are not ready for store shelves yet) and while there are some gee whiz type things going on in the background, the average user will not appreciate much of the hoopla. Win 8 will probably mesh better with social networking and synchronization with other devices will improve and you’ll be able to go back and forth between touch and older inputs. Win 8 will no doubt give Microsoft a better foothold in the battle for mobile OS supremacy, but if you are looking for a new laptop or desktop, don’t wait.
Till next week, send your questions to:
geekspeak@mchsi.com
also see GeekSpeak by Jim Hall at http://hallsts.com where you may comment directly on my blog
Written by Jim Hall. Email your questions to geekspeak@mchsi.com . You can find Jim online at HallsTrainingSolutions.com
Last week I hope I convinced most of you Win XP holdouts to at least consider transitioning to Windows 7sometime this year. Maybe I should tiptoe around this next issue, but I feel I must talk to you about one more change, real soon. I did try to nudge you on this one back in November of 2010, but now I want to openly endorse adopting Web Mail and letting POP Mail fade away.
Basically the difference is that Web Mail keeps your mail on a server and you read it from your PC through a Web browser. With POP mail you access mail on a remote server and then download it to your PC. Control freaks like me usually like POP because the downloaded emails are under our control as are the contact files or address book which reside on our PCs. The old MS mail client Outlook Express is a good example of a POP mail. Thunderbird still makes this process available in a free download from Mozilla. (If you can’t wean yourself away from OE, download Thunderbird).
I suggested to you over a year ago that Web Mail offers one advantage that is really convenient; that of accessing your mail and contacts from any PC, anywhere. Since that column, more advantages have arisen. The ease of synchronizing mail between your PC and your mobile devices is another consideration. You can also sync across platforms more easily (Mac and Windows work better together).
The other change is that Web Mail programs have grown up, improved and added more features that make them more complete like your old POP mail clients.
So who do you choose among the myriad Web Mail clients available? The big three are Yahoo, Live Hotmail and Gmail. Apple has recently entered the fray with their iCloud Mail.
If you are already using a Bellsouth or ATT mail account, it is using the Yahoo Mail server and it is easy to transition to the att.yahoo Web Mail site. Ditch OE or Win Live Mail if you are using them and move onto Yahoo’s mail server.
If you are already using a Hotmail account and don’t like change, stick with it. Get out of Win Live mail and move to the Web.
But if you are shopping for a Web based mail client, choose Gmail which to my mind has gradually grown since its introduction into the best overall Web mail service. They give you plenty of free mail storage space. Their ads are unobtrusive (not so with Yahoo). They allow easy synching of contacts with mobile devices. The user interface is friendly and quite readable. They make it easy for you to group messages by Label in storage. There are a few quirky things about the service, but they are constantly making improvements.
Overall, I pick Gmail. Try it and till next week, send your questions to:
geekspeak@mchsi.com
See GeekSpeak by Jim Hall at http://hallsts.com where you may comment directly on my blog
Written by Jim Hall. Email your questions to geekspeak@mchsi.com . You can find Jim online at HallsTrainingSolutions.com
This week marks the fourth anniversary of my first column in the Albany Journal and I thank you readers for your support. As I look back, let me renew my promise in that first column. I resolved to help ordinary readers understand enough geek talk to use technology to make life easier and more enjoyable. I promised to give you enough information but not overload you with jargon and complicated language. It has been a challenge at times; some of your questions are about complicated subjects; but I’ll stand by my pledge to keep things as simple as possible (and expect you to let me know when I fall short).
Looking back there have been many significant changes in the tools of technology since that first column. Miniaturization, mobility and synchronization have driven change so that the hardware we use today is very different. The advent and maturation of 3G and WiFi have made portability and mobility available on more devices to more people and changes in the near future auger even greater change. 4G will become a reality rather than just a sales gimmick and the next standards for WiFi will significantly improve wireless traffic.
Synchronization has been in the mind of users for some time and recent advances in cloud storage and cooperation among some software and hardware vendors are beginning to pay off. You would expect to be able to synchronize like devices, but we are seeing some progress in cross platform coordination. Gee, Microsoft, Android and Apple devices talking to one another? Who would have thunk just 5 years ago?
There are also some stark changes in the questions I get; but amazingly there are still two that rank near the top. “How can I speed up my computer?” leads the all time list. A close second is “How do I get that blanket-blank malware off my computer and keep it off?” Coming in a close third is “Which updates should I accept and how do I know when to say no?” This question is being driven by the knowledge that more and more infections are coming from installed softwares other than the Operating System or the Mail Client.
One of the things I have learned from your questions and comments is that most people want to use technology and gadgets in ways that are uniquely useful to them. They are not looking for intrusions and complications. I’ll renew my commitment to bringing you solutions and recommendations that help you to manage your gadgets and have a little fun in the process.
Some of you have asked what happened to my old Website. I simply got tired of maintaining it. It was working me instead of vice versa. This week I am starting a new blog to take its place and it’s called GeekSpeak by Jim Hall. Please take a look at it: http://hallsts.com and I especially welcome your comments and suggestions while I am building the site. By the way I will also display recent issues of this column on the site in pdf format.
Thanks again readers and till next week, send your questions to:
geekspeak@mchsi.com
Written by Jim Hall. Email your questions to geekspeak@mchsi.com . You can find Jim online at HallsTrainingSolutions.com
“Poor Jud is daid…
Poor Jud Fry is daid…
All gather round his coffin now and cry.…
He had a heart of gold.…
And he wasn’t very old.…
Oh why did sich a feller have to die?”
My apologies to the writers of “Oklahoma”! I was reminded of this poignant and comical eulogy when I read the latest news about the eminent demise of Windows XP back on April 9th of this year.
Windows XP launched in 2001 shortly after the short lived and much maligned Win ME and it has enjoyed an enormously successful run. Many XP users refused to adopt the now discredited Win Vista which succeeded it. Most are glad they held out for the much better Win Seven that followed. MS finally stopped selling retail versions of XP in 2008 and now says that it will stop all support of the workhorse OS in April of 2014. That means no more security updates which will effectively kill the OS for Internet users. The Office Suite that pioneered along with WIN XP, Office XP (later updated slightly to Office 2003) will all be moth balled at the same time.
So what’s the hurry you ask? Well listen to this argument from an MS spokeswoman:” Windows XP and Office 2003 were great software releases for their time, but the technology environment has shifted. Technology continues to evolve and so do people’s needs and expectations. Modern users demand technologies that fit their personal work style and allow them to stay productive anywhere anytime, while businesses have an ever increasing need to protect data and ensure security, compliance and manageability. It is in a company’s – and its employees’ – best interest to take advantage of the modern Windows and Office software that is designed with these needs in mind.” Win 7 is superior and you just don’t want to miss the features that make it better than XP.
You’ve got two years to make this transition, but don’t wait till the last minute; do it now. Go ahead and get yourself a new Win 7 PC and a new monitor as well if you’re still using an old 15 to 17 inch model. There have been major improvements in monitor technologies that will brighten up and clarify your desktop experience. Consider also; this might be the time to move to a laptop and gain some portability along with space on your actual desktop.
Couldn’t resist one more verse from the Oklahoma eulogy:
“He looks like he’s asleep.…
It’s a shame that he won’t keep.…
But it’s summer and we’re runnin’ out a’ ice”
Poooor XP! Poooor XP!
Folk’s, it’s summer and time to inter our good and trusty old friend, Win XP. RIP!
Till next week, send your questions to:
geekspeak@mchsi.com
Written by Jim Hall. Email your questions to geekspeak@mchsi.com . You can find Jim online at HallsTrainingSolutions.com
