Cliff's Corner - Solving PC Issues      Visit PhotoPages Home Page

Terminology
Malware and virus are the same thing.
Anti-virus (AV) software is designed to protect you from malware.

Keep Your PC Healthy & Running Smooth
If your PC misbehaves or has slowed down, it is likely due to 1) temporary files, 2) ad tracking cookies, 3) fragmented disk, 4) your PC is past its prime or 5) you have a malware/virus. The first four are easy to remedy. Solutions: To delete ad cookies and temporary files, depending upon your browser, visit Internet Explorer or Firefox or Google Chrome. Fragmented files cause the disk read head to jump around the drive to access files, slowing down your PC and reducing disk life. Click here to learn how to defrag your drive. Remove temp files and cookies once a week and defrag your drive once a month. Always restart your PC after either action. If this doesn't improve speed, your problem may be more serious. I suggest reading this entire page. You don't need to be technical to benefit from this information and it will be a great stepping stone toward keeping your PC performing at its best.

Is Your PC Sending Spam to Your Friends?
If friends tell you they have received spam email from you, then your PC is infected with a virus that is sending spam to everyone in your address book. Anyone clicking on links in your spam email will be infected too, so you need to address this issue ASAP. Read this article, then try to get rid of the virus by running a scan with your AV software. If that doesn't work, then take your PC to a neighborhood computer store or Best Buy's Geek Squad to have the virus removed. Read the next three paragraphs to learn how your PC became infected and how to prevent this in the future.

Malware is a Very Serious Threat
A recent study estimates that about half of all PCs are infected with malware, which gets its name from malicious software, which should tell you something. Click here to learn how computers become infected. Malware silently downloads as you browse the web or open infected email attachments. Many music, sports, lyrics and other web sites, as well as "must see" email attachments, are created expressly to download harmful malware. Well know sites are usually safe, whereas lesser known sites are the most risky. Facebook, Twitter and other social sites are heavily targeted by cybercriminals. Tens of millions of users are infected yearly through these sites every year. To be safe at these sites, do not click on links in messages, even from your friends. Malware can record your keystrokes, then send them back to the hacker. They capture your logins and passwords, then can access your online and financial accounts. Don't take this threat lightly, it has happened to millions of people. WARNING! Malware can disable your AV software and Windows System Restore, making it virtually impossible to remove the virus. The only fix may be to format your disk drive and reinstall all of your software. Some people just buy a new PC, then make the same mistakes all over again. Clearly it would be easier to just practice safe computing habits.

Watch Out For Bogus Virus Popups
While surfing the internet, you may get a popup dialog box that says you have a virus and asks you if you want to remove it. It may even say Microsoft Security in the dialog box. Your first reaction will be to click yes. Do not do this unless it properly identifies itself as your AV software. Do not click on anything in the dialog box. Do not click yes, no or even the red X. Any of these actions will download a virus to your PC. Instead, close your browser by clicking on the red X in the upper right hand corner of your browser, then reopen the browser to continue surfing.

Serious Danger From Email Viruses
You will get many emails tempting you to click a link or to open a "must see" attachment. Don't open them or forward them to put your friends at serious risk. If an email doesn't make sense (like telling you that an account is closed, order cancelled, etc.), delete it. Clicking on risky attachments or links is like opening your door to strangers when there have been home invasions in your neighborhood. Once they get inside, you are in serious trouble. Just remember that you are always just one click away from wrecking your PC or losing all of your documents and photos. The "I Love You" virus that circled the globe in year 2000 deleted all photo files on the PCs of everyone that opened it, wiped, gone. Don't let this happen to you. What is safe: Emails from friends with documents or photos they created, or were forwarded to them from a friend that created them. What is not safe: Email attachments and links in emails that are passed around the internet, even if forwarded from a friend.

Won't AV Software Protect Me?
AV software can protect you only 95% of the time, because it can only detect malware it knows about. New malware can bypass your AV software right into your PC. AV software teams usually learn about new malware within a week and write protection code (definition updates), which are downloaded to your PC to protect you from that specific threat. Which AV software? If you don't want to spend money, download the free Ad-Aware or Microsoft Security Essentials. For better protection I suggest Spyware Doctor w/Antivirus or Spy Sweeper w/antivirus. Both are $40 first time cost, with $20 annual renewal. Since Spyware Doctor allows you to install it on 3 PCs, I use it on all 9 PCs that I support. IMPORTANT: Be sure your AV software is set to update automatically and to scan your system daily. And renew your subscription every year so that you can get the most current version. For less than $2/month, this is very cheap protection.

Your Browser Can Make a Difference
There is a lot of hype about which browser is fastest, best at blocking ads and the most secure. So in July 2011, I decided to find out for myself. For one week, I equally surfed using the top 3 browsers, Internet Explorer (IE9), Firefox and Chrome. I found virtually no difference in speed or ad blocking. You can't easily test security, but this recent independent report found that IE9, with Smartscreen Filter enabled, blocked 100% of malware compared to 13% for Firefox and Chrome. So now use only IE9, but whichever browser you choose, be sure to download and use the latest and most secure version.

Get Windows 7 for Better PC Security
Windows 7 and the previous version, Windows Vista, are vast improvements over Windows XP. Windows 7 starts up in 45 seconds, is much faster, manages hardware and memory more efficiently, is far more secure. BEST FEATURE: To enter your PC, malware must be able to modify or add to Windows files. Both Windows 7 and Vista have an important new feature called User Account Control (UAC) that asks your permission before allowing any actions that will modify Windows' files. If you get an UAC prompt when installing software or downloading from the internet, you should allow this action because you initiated it. If you get an UAC prompt when not downloading or installing, you simply disallow it because you did not imitate this action. Above you read that IE9 is the most secure browser, yet IE9 will not run on Windows XP. These are solid reasons to make the move to Windows 7.

System Restore Can Save Your Fanny
Everything installed and downloaded to your PC writes code to the Windows Registry, which has tens of thousands of entries. Windows 7, Vista and XP all have a feature called System Restore that is like a time machine in that it allows you to go back to a previous time in the registry. Let's say today is Monday and you started having a specific problem last Saturday after downloading something or surfing the net. You just do a System Restore to last Friday and poof, the problem is gone. Yes, it can be that simple. If this doesn't resolve the issue, go back a few days more and restore again. This will resolve most issues. Anything installed on your PC after the restore date you selected will need to be reinstalled as System Restore has wiped that program's registry entries. However, System Restore doesn't affect documents, emails, photos or other personal files. Learn how to use System Restore in Windows 7 and Vista or Windows XP.

Password Selection
Likely you have dozens of accounts which require a login and password. Don't use easy to guess passwords that can cause a security nightmare. Don't use parts of addresses, family names, birth dates or social security numbers. Absolutely don't use the same password for all accounts. This puts you at the greatest risk because a hacker that gets your Facebook password could empty your bank account. It isn't necessary to have a different password for every account, but consider having at least three passwords that contain numbers and at least one capital letter. Let's say you have a dog named Stanley that you got in 1998 and a cat named Buttons that you got in 2005. Here are some examples of what you might use. For high and critical levels, numbers in front and back is recommended. Your critical level password should be unique from the first two levels.
Low level - For accounts like YouTube, Netflix, Facebook. - Buttons05
High level - For online shopping sites and Paypal. - 20Buttons05
Critical level - For bank and credit card accounts. - 19Stanley98

Should I Buy a New PC?
If your PC is four years or older, it is surely slower than today's blazing PCs with Windows 7, faster processors, faster video cards, more and faster memory, larger and faster hard drives. For less than $400, you can buy a PC with Windows 7, ready to run right out of the box. Then give your old PC to your children and keep them off the new one. Studies show that the more users on a PC, and the younger they are, the more likely you are to have serious issues.

Summary
You now have a better understanding about the causes of PC problems, what to do about them and how to prevent them in the future. And be diligent about practicing safe computing habits.

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