Youngstown Computer Show Sept 27, 2008 Show Notes

Youngstown Computer Show
September 27, 2008
Show Notes

PART 1

Show Opening:
Sarah Palin got her email account got hacked. All the hackers did was use the password reset feature in Yahoo mail to reset her email password by guessing/looking up the answers to her security questions. To protect yourself, make sure that the answers to your security questions are something that only you will know. Mess up the answers in a way that you only know, like knowingly misspell something.

Caller 1:
Q: Caller has a HP computer, after the last power outage the computer will not turn on. What could have happened?
A: First, disconnect all devices on the computer and try. If that does not do anything, then the power supply needs replaced.

Caller 2:
Q: The caller asks a non-computer question about the government bail-out.

Caller 3:
Q: The caller has a few friends that have Norton Anti-Virus and every time they get on the internet, there are all these updates that slow up his system. Is there a way around it?
A: You really should let those updates happen so that you are protected against the latest threats. You should be able to adjust the update schedule and have it only update once a week maybe, if the updates are slowing you down. You could try starting the computer and just let it do its job for a little bit then come back to it.


PART 2

Caller 4:
Q: Caller has a C: drive that is almost filled up. “…but I’ve got an extra drive installed also. Is there any way I can make the extra drive, the bigger drive, my default drive so that everything doesn’t keep going to the C: drive and filling it up, or can I transfer that stuff off of the C: drive to another larger capacity drive?”
A: Since the files seem to be mostly audio/video files, you should be able to copy those from the C: drive to your new drive. Each program usually has its own default area to put files, so you will have to go into the settings of your software to change the default location to the new drive.
Q: A second question about a router. “…since I bought a router last, it looks like they sped up a little bit, I got a couple of TiVo’s and my router is hooked to both of those. It takes quite a while to load video. Is there a certain type I should look for to speed up that process?”
A: You have a wireless G router now, and wireless N routers can be faster, but you also need wireless N adapters on the TiVo’s too.

As a reminder, there is a demo of wireless networking today at the shop at 4:00pm.

Performance tip:
The tip is a little different this time. From this point on we will have a video on the website for you to watch as the performance tip is demonstrated. This week covers the Firefox browser and how to streamline your browsing: how to set up your start/home pages, how to use the bookmark bar, and how to organize your bookmarks into folders. The video link is: http://youngstowncomputer.com/performance.htm, or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nN1ICesQ-4.

Then, there was some discussion of web browsers, what does Joe Danyi use? He sticks with Firefox 2, he won’t upgrade to Firefox 3, or Google’s Chrome, or Opera.

Caller 5:
Q: The caller’s wife’s computer came with Vista, how does he put XP back on there? Could they use the XP disk that came with his computer?
A: If you don’t want to set up a dual boot situation where you can choose Vista or XP, you will just have to wipe the drive and install XP from scratch. You might not be able to use the XP disk from your computer because it is probably a restore disk that has XP set up just for your computer’s configuration and not your wife’s.

Caller 6:
Q: The caller has a Gateway Pentium 4 circa 2002. How does that stack up to the latest Core 2 chips? Should I buy a new computer or just add more memory?
A: If you check the Task manager and your CPU usage is not 99% all the time, then you might not need to get a new PC.

Maintenance:
Yearly maintenance tasks: make sure anti-virus is up-to-date, defrag hard disk, clean out files, and clean out dust and dirt.


PART 3

Caller 7:
Q: The caller had XP SP3 come in as an update, and one computer updated fine, while another Dell desktop seemed to install ok, but only boots to a blue screen.
A: This will require some expert work to fix. They will have to replace the files that SP3 updated with an earlier version that worked, then check for viruses to make sure that the update installs cleanly.
Q: A second question: he has a laptop where there is a row of keys where only the ones on the end work, nothing in the middle of the row.
A: Sounds like some conductors are broken, the keyboard should be replaced. However, the caller claims it was replaced a year ago and now the same thing is happening again, so it might be software related.

Caller 8:
Q: The caller has a laptop that has a pop-up that says he is infected with a serious virus. He used to have Norton AV, but the subscription ran out, but this used to pop up even then.
A: This is classic malware. Either a smal program got installed (usually when you installed some freeware that you downloaded, or website did a drive-by install by taking advantage of a security hole to install software without your knowledge), or you are just seeing a web page ad that makes it look like an error screen. Bring in the computer for a malware cleaninig.
Q: His son has a laptop and the mouse has quit working.
A: If the mouse is a wireless mouse, then it does have a battery and it probably needs replaced.
Q: Can you use these laptops anywhere?
A: You can use the laptop to work on data that is stored locally on the laptop anywhere as long as you have power. If you want to be on the internet, you need to be in a place where there is a wireless hotspot you can connect to. A lot of coffee shops have hotspots, airports have hotspots, some stores, etc. (JOEM: For internet connections just about anywhere, you can get internet connection through the cell phone network. You usually have a small dongle that plugs in and uses the cell network for internet connections anywhere you can get a cell phone signal. They do cost a bit.)

Security Segment:
Same thing as with the performance segment, we will have a video for this from now on. This week's segment is about firewalls. "A firewall is a device or a peice of software that separates you from the internet. Traffic goes one way where you make requests out, but there are times when something from the internet makes a request back from you. For instance if someone tries to use your IP address, when you connect to the internet you have an IP address, so they connect to your IP address to maybe look at a web site or download a file, and that request comes over a port number. Now, firewalls are set to block communications on some ports and allow communications on other ports. Now if you have a router, a Linksys router, you have essentially something acting as a firewall separating you from the internet. If you have something like Zone Alarm or you have the Windows firewall set up, you have software that is allowing or disallowing traffic on certain ports on your computer. We reccommend that you get something physical, something like a Linksys router or something like a Pix firewall, or something physical to separate your computer from the internet."

They got one of those scam emails wanting you to help them get their money by cashing a foreign check (which is bogus). They will string along the scammer and tell us about all the things they go through to see how the scam develops.


PART 4

Caller 9:
Q: The caller is getting an error in Internet Explorer when she tries to get into her program: "A newer version of the enhanced printing/report generation activeX control could not be installed...the system will default to basic printing and view generation for this session."
A: This error sounds like it is from a custom application that uses a specialized printing/reporting custom component that is not updating itself properly. You probably need to contact the people who made the program or website you are trying to use. If you are a home user, you yourself are the "system administrator". If you are in an office, you can call the computer support guys.
Q: another question: "Up on the top bar, there's a question mark saying 'This website wants to install the following addon: ' and I never know whether to let it. This one is IRCSHARC.CAB from Market Links...how do I know if I trust it?"
A: You'll want to deny just about all of these sorts of install messages. (JOEM: Some Google searching seems to point to this addon coming from a company that used to be called Geac, that made financial and property managment software. So it seems that the caller is trying to run a web version of some custom program that needs specialized add-ons and activeX controls. The solution is to contact the maker of this software for support.)

Talking about Acronis True Image:
Acronis is a type of backup software that makes an "image" of your entire hard disk and stores it. It allows you to completely restore a system to the last time you made an "image" of your hard disk. It also is useful for migrating to a larger hard disk, by allowing you to transfer an "image" onto a new drive.

Project Java Installation:
They want to set up a place where the community can go for technology stuff. Part will be an Internet Cafe, part will be a recording studio, etc.

Acronyms:
People want a glossary for computer acronyms, like what is "WiFi?" It is just a branding that wireless networking devices use to say that they use standards so that different brands will work together with no problems. It is a play off of "High-Fidelity": it means "Wireless-Fidelity". Study up on Acronyms for next week, there might be a contest.