One of the most frequently asked questions (MFAQ) I've been getting from clients and friends recently has been about spyware and viruses. More specifically, I am being asked about removing unwanted pests. That is unfortunate but realistic state of computing today. What I would like to see more, is people asking me how to prevent spyware and viruses in the first place, instead of thinking about it after the fact. The same is true for the backups – I only get asked about it when people’s data is corrupted or otherwise lost. But that is completely different issue, one which I will cover in the near future.
OK, obviously the best way to clean up spyware is to not get spyware type applications on your machine in the first place. Clearly, that is not the answer for everyone, but if you are in the position to protect yourself at the beginning, there is absolutely no reason not to do it. For example, my friend (who asked about this very issue today is purchasing a new laptop this week, and will have a chance for a clean and safe start). I know when you get the new machine, all you want to do is check it out and play…but you really need to take an hour and take care of the safety issues first. I’ve set up hundreds of PCs, and I install virus protection, firewall, and anti-spyware tools before any other applications.
As far as the tools to fight spyware, I exclusively use free applications. I am sure there are great commercial releases out there, but I can’t comment on their effectiveness. Unlike firewall and antivirus, not all spyware apps offer real time protection, which means you use them say weekly to clean your PC of unwanted bugs. This is changing slowly, however. The two newer tools that offer the real-protection are Microsoft AntiSpyware (beta) and SpyDefense (beta).
The other great tools that remove spyware, but do not offer real-time protection are: SpyBot Search & Destroy, AdAware SE Personal. There is a simple way to automate these to run automatically by adding them as “Windows Scheduled Tasks”. For example, by adding the following arguments to your SpyBot shortcut, you can get it to run, update, minimize, clean, and exit without any intervention.
“C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\SpybotSD.exe" /taskbarhide /minimized /autoupdate /autocheck /autofix /autoclose /autoimmunize
Finally, a great little application that does a good job at immunizing system is SpywareBlaster. This little gem does not offer spyware cleaning capabilities, but does a great job of immunizing your system against spyware.
Above we discussed some tools that can help prevent spyware as well as others that remove it. In addition, some spyware is so tough that it needs a specially designed script to remove it. Such scripts are available on the web. Most importantly, don’t click on everything that blinks and flashes. I hope this is helpful, and make it harder for those lowlife peddlers of spyware and junkmail.
Next time I will cover AntiVirus products, and after that I’ll also discuss firewalls.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Helping less technologically savvy friends
Well, as I work for a company in a capacity of IT support/planning/troubleshooting/design/implementation/web-design/training/networking and so on, I get a lot of questions thrown at me regarding computers and related equipment. I love technology, and I love to help friends and coworkers. Two things that make me cringe, and not want to get involved anymore are ungrateful people who do not appreciate the work I do. It goes like this: I spend 3-5-8-12 hours working on someone's machine, cleaning up 300+ spyware programs, 25+ viruses, setting up appropriate defense and prevention mechanisms, along with backup procedures, and I explain it all, hoping that I will not have to do the same thing again in a month or so. A week later I get a call that something is not working and it started after I worked on the computer!!! WHAT? It worked fine when I left. Different scenarios: people go back and disable anti-virus, uninstall backup apps, etc., basically undoing all that hard work. Mind you, I ask nothing in return other than "Thanks" and knowing there is another happy computer user. Now, I am the enemy who broke their PC that was fine until I worked on it. One person who I have setup triple backup procedure in place as she is a writer, never took my advice not to save her docs to get this - floppy discs instead of the hard drive which was being backed up. Of course, I was blamed for the hardware failure of the floppy disk.
Don't get me wrong, it can be very rewarding, as there are people that I educated, and worked on their machines, they listened, and are very happy with the results. Some even buy me a lunch or dinner, which is a nice gesture. Obviously, financially speaking a $10 lunch is very low pay indeed for day's worth of work, but that is not why I do it. I simply enjoy fixing PC, and helping friends.
I think I need to start charging in order to be taken seriously. It seems that when something is free to you, it is automatically perceived as worth nothing. In turn, as it costs you nothing to get the freebie service done again, so why worry about things?
The other pet peeve of mine is when people ask for advice on what computer/camera/printer whatever to purchase. As any good analyst would do, I first determine what the intended use is for the new PC. Based on that, I recommend a solution. Most commonly this turns out to be the entry level PC, and I go as far as to tell them to get the cheapest thing there is (within the minimum specifications) as I don't really see any difference from vendor to vendor. The support from big guys (Dell, Compaq, Gateway generally sucks), and all the hardware comes from same suppliers, so differentiators are simply not there as far as I am concerned. After spending several hours working on this and researching the best deals out there for the PC that would work for them, down to configuring the PC for them and sending them a link to simply click BUY button, they often walk in one of the superstores (BestBuy, CircuitCity, Staples, or whatever) and buy the overpowered, overpriced machine with the extended warranty, that a pimply-faced high-school clerk making $7.25/hr recommended because they have a special on the particular package that day.
Well, I've rambled long enough...but you get the picture. This is basically thankless position that I routinely put myself into. Still, I can't help myself, I am hooked on technology.
Don't get me wrong, it can be very rewarding, as there are people that I educated, and worked on their machines, they listened, and are very happy with the results. Some even buy me a lunch or dinner, which is a nice gesture. Obviously, financially speaking a $10 lunch is very low pay indeed for day's worth of work, but that is not why I do it. I simply enjoy fixing PC, and helping friends.
I think I need to start charging in order to be taken seriously. It seems that when something is free to you, it is automatically perceived as worth nothing. In turn, as it costs you nothing to get the freebie service done again, so why worry about things?
The other pet peeve of mine is when people ask for advice on what computer/camera/printer whatever to purchase. As any good analyst would do, I first determine what the intended use is for the new PC. Based on that, I recommend a solution. Most commonly this turns out to be the entry level PC, and I go as far as to tell them to get the cheapest thing there is (within the minimum specifications) as I don't really see any difference from vendor to vendor. The support from big guys (Dell, Compaq, Gateway generally sucks), and all the hardware comes from same suppliers, so differentiators are simply not there as far as I am concerned. After spending several hours working on this and researching the best deals out there for the PC that would work for them, down to configuring the PC for them and sending them a link to simply click BUY button, they often walk in one of the superstores (BestBuy, CircuitCity, Staples, or whatever) and buy the overpowered, overpriced machine with the extended warranty, that a pimply-faced high-school clerk making $7.25/hr recommended because they have a special on the particular package that day.
Well, I've rambled long enough...but you get the picture. This is basically thankless position that I routinely put myself into. Still, I can't help myself, I am hooked on technology.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Dell Support -Part II
Well, Dell has done it again. After months of putting up with a networked printer going off-line after few days, Dell has scheduled a tech to come out and replace some parts in attempt to fix the problem. They say "tech will call you before 10AM to schedule an exact time". OK, no call. I call them, and get the standard response: "tech will call you schedule an exact time". Few days later, I try again: part is not in yet. Few weeks later, I call again. This time they say, "well, the tech tried to contact you, he showed up at your office, you were not there, so he sent the part back". WHAT??? It turns out the guy did not leave me a voicemail, and he showed up at the office at 7PM, waaay after hours (I told them we are open 9-5).
So, we schedule new appointment for the following day. 10AM, 11AM, Noon. No call from the tech. I call them. Same story: "the tech tried to contact you but could not". What do you mean "could not"?? And what constitutes "trying"? Picking up the receiver? Or actually dialing the number? I get on the phone with Dell and escalate the call. Appointment is set for the following day, "tech will call you before 10AM to schedule an exact time". No call. We are in the middle of moving to a new patch panel, and replacing switches, when the service tech showed up.
He made few changes to the settings, and said that the printer is too sensitive to lost packets. Update firmware. We'll see if that fixes it.
Basically, I understand that things don't always work as intended. There are glitches, etc. But, the way I have been treated by Dell on this issue is simply unacceptable. Funny thing is that Dell sent me survey asking me to rate my satisfaction with the warranty service (this was two after the tech has not showed up for the scheduled appointment.) Funny stuff…
So, we schedule new appointment for the following day. 10AM, 11AM, Noon. No call from the tech. I call them. Same story: "the tech tried to contact you but could not". What do you mean "could not"?? And what constitutes "trying"? Picking up the receiver? Or actually dialing the number? I get on the phone with Dell and escalate the call. Appointment is set for the following day, "tech will call you before 10AM to schedule an exact time". No call. We are in the middle of moving to a new patch panel, and replacing switches, when the service tech showed up.
He made few changes to the settings, and said that the printer is too sensitive to lost packets. Update firmware. We'll see if that fixes it.
Basically, I understand that things don't always work as intended. There are glitches, etc. But, the way I have been treated by Dell on this issue is simply unacceptable. Funny thing is that Dell sent me survey asking me to rate my satisfaction with the warranty service (this was two after the tech has not showed up for the scheduled appointment.) Funny stuff…
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Dell Support
I know that Dell must receive million + support calls each year, but does that mean that each call for help is less important? I recently purchased a color laser printer for our company, and from the day one, it had trouble with network connectivity - it would work for day or two, and then simply disappear from the network. That means nobody could print to it unless it was manually reset. This was the case even though the LCD on the unit read "Ready". My first call got me a polite and seemingly knowledgeable tech, who after consulting his database, proclaimed that this is not the first report of the problem, but there is no known fix for it yet. His advice: "Just reboot the machine every day, and check back for a fix/patch." As I was extremely busy at work, and this was not a top priority, this slipped off my radar for a month or two.
Second call was answered by another tech who sounded very authoritative, and who was willing to try some troubleshooting. After few tests he determined it was a bad network card, and he scheduled a tech to come to our office and replace it. Few days later, we had a new NIC and all was well – for about two days, when the printer disappeared from our network.
On the third call, I got a person who sounded as if this was her first call. I was patient, and told her that swapping a network cable (again) will really not solve the problem even though her script called for this step. I described the problem in detail, and after putting me on hold, she concluded that we needed to replace another part (control unit). Fine, let’s do it. Unfortunately, the part is on backorder and not available for another two or more weeks. I politely reminded her that I had “Next Business Day On-Site Service”, and that I would accept service in two or even three days, but not two or three weeks.
So, I am waiting for response, she is quiet, time goes by. I imagined that she was checking alternate sources for the part, or consulting with a more senior tech. No, she was just sitting there and waiting. Silence. Minutes go by…Silence….I finally ask: “So, what are we going to do here?”. “We can come and repair it in two to three weeks, sir”. WHAT???
No, I don’t think so. I ask for her to send me a new printer if she can’t get the part. She says “I can’t do that, sir”. I was really becoming upset, mostly because of her inability to recognize situation where she needed to make a decision to get the situation resolved. I asked for a supervisor, with a plan to threaten him/her for breach of contract. She came back minute later, and told me that I should be receiving a new unit in few days.
Don’t get me wrong, I am often on the receiving end of tech support calls for my company, so I can recognize the difficulty of solving problems without experiencing the symptoms first hand, dealing with frantic callers, and clueless users. Should one be required to fight for a service purchased? Beyond the issue of the failed printer, this last service call to Dell leaves me disappointed with their tech support. Remember, this is just one call out of thousands Dell receives every hour, but this is the one I’ll remember.
Second call was answered by another tech who sounded very authoritative, and who was willing to try some troubleshooting. After few tests he determined it was a bad network card, and he scheduled a tech to come to our office and replace it. Few days later, we had a new NIC and all was well – for about two days, when the printer disappeared from our network.
On the third call, I got a person who sounded as if this was her first call. I was patient, and told her that swapping a network cable (again) will really not solve the problem even though her script called for this step. I described the problem in detail, and after putting me on hold, she concluded that we needed to replace another part (control unit). Fine, let’s do it. Unfortunately, the part is on backorder and not available for another two or more weeks. I politely reminded her that I had “Next Business Day On-Site Service”, and that I would accept service in two or even three days, but not two or three weeks.
So, I am waiting for response, she is quiet, time goes by. I imagined that she was checking alternate sources for the part, or consulting with a more senior tech. No, she was just sitting there and waiting. Silence. Minutes go by…Silence….I finally ask: “So, what are we going to do here?”. “We can come and repair it in two to three weeks, sir”. WHAT???
No, I don’t think so. I ask for her to send me a new printer if she can’t get the part. She says “I can’t do that, sir”. I was really becoming upset, mostly because of her inability to recognize situation where she needed to make a decision to get the situation resolved. I asked for a supervisor, with a plan to threaten him/her for breach of contract. She came back minute later, and told me that I should be receiving a new unit in few days.
Don’t get me wrong, I am often on the receiving end of tech support calls for my company, so I can recognize the difficulty of solving problems without experiencing the symptoms first hand, dealing with frantic callers, and clueless users. Should one be required to fight for a service purchased? Beyond the issue of the failed printer, this last service call to Dell leaves me disappointed with their tech support. Remember, this is just one call out of thousands Dell receives every hour, but this is the one I’ll remember.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
CraigsList - a hidden treasure
Another site that is useful and beyond cool is CraigsList.com...the site design is plain ugly, there is no way around it. However, that's just about the only negative thing one can say about the site. Actually, I think the site is simple by design.
I am not sure how traditional classifieds can stay in business, because they certainly can't compete on price (free). The problem must be that people just aren’t aware of CraigsList.com existence. Especially cool feature is the FREE section. I just picked up a free loft bed for my son. I got him a new mattress and he is already enjoying his new room.
Interesting thing is that beyond just getting a nice free loft bed, we also got to catch-up with some friends that we lost touch with in the last few years. I saw a posting for a bed that seemed perfect, so I sent an email to the person asking if they could email me a photo. I like to do that so I don't waste my time, and don't bug the person selling/giving away item. Well, about an hour later, during dinner, phone rang and it was Amy, my wife's friend/colleague from work. She saw my email requesting a photo, and called us up since she recognized my name (that is a nice thing about having a unusual name). We finished dinner and drove to her house to pick up the bed frame and to visit...
I am not sure how traditional classifieds can stay in business, because they certainly can't compete on price (free). The problem must be that people just aren’t aware of CraigsList.com existence. Especially cool feature is the FREE section. I just picked up a free loft bed for my son. I got him a new mattress and he is already enjoying his new room.
Interesting thing is that beyond just getting a nice free loft bed, we also got to catch-up with some friends that we lost touch with in the last few years. I saw a posting for a bed that seemed perfect, so I sent an email to the person asking if they could email me a photo. I like to do that so I don't waste my time, and don't bug the person selling/giving away item. Well, about an hour later, during dinner, phone rang and it was Amy, my wife's friend/colleague from work. She saw my email requesting a photo, and called us up since she recognized my name (that is a nice thing about having a unusual name). We finished dinner and drove to her house to pick up the bed frame and to visit...
Gmail me?
Google this, Gmail that. Google is everywhere (at least in the tech world).
I say I love Google even after being forced to write this blog for the second time because Blogger.com, another Google site, went down in the middle of my publishing session, and about 500 words were lost. But what do I have to complain about? 99% of the time I receive great service, sleek blog tools, and all that for absolutely zero deneros.
Back to Google, and its innovative tools. Just after my last fiasco during the upload of the latest blog, I wrote the previous paragraph, and immediately after that the site came back up, and what is the first link that I see after logging into blogger.com? How to recover lost uploads…Worked like a charm. However only day after I started getting an “Internal Server Error” when I try to access Blogger.com. Weird stuff. It now appears to work in FireFox but not IE6. Usually we hear exactly the opposite: “Works with IE6 only”. Hey, I use both browsers, so I don’t really care.
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Gmail, anyone?
I don't know what it is about Google guys, but I just love their stuff - all of it: the search engine, their local and image search, the toolbar, Froogle and most recently Gmail. The list goes on...
There is something to be said for a company that consistently makes $$$, is the best in their field, and is always coming up with new products. Are all of these new tools great? No, the desktop search, for example, could stand some improvement like support for more files, and ability to sort. But overall, you have to admit - they do great things. I certainly hope they don't become like Yahoo! with all those huge ads on every single page.
Anyway, back to Gmail. Everyone knows about it by now, I am sure. I just wanted to share my opinion, and point out the most useful things that come with a Gmail account. Obviously, 2GB mailbox is nothing to sneeze at. But the ability to POP you account is the best. You get the best of both worlds: webmail while traveling and email via your favorite mail app for regular use. Search capability is nice, but to be expected from Google.
Marketing guys at Google combined the buzz created by the limitation of accounts being by invitation only, as well as using that time to test the beta service, and increase service base gradually. Pure genius. Well, I remember I got my invititation by giving up some hard earned cash to purchase it on the eBay. The days of limited number of invites per user are long gone, and even I have 50 left...So, if you are in a need of Gmail invite drop me a line via comment feature on this blog, and I will send you invite promptly. I promise you, it will change your email habits...
There is something to be said for a company that consistently makes $$$, is the best in their field, and is always coming up with new products. Are all of these new tools great? No, the desktop search, for example, could stand some improvement like support for more files, and ability to sort. But overall, you have to admit - they do great things. I certainly hope they don't become like Yahoo! with all those huge ads on every single page.
Anyway, back to Gmail. Everyone knows about it by now, I am sure. I just wanted to share my opinion, and point out the most useful things that come with a Gmail account. Obviously, 2GB mailbox is nothing to sneeze at. But the ability to POP you account is the best. You get the best of both worlds: webmail while traveling and email via your favorite mail app for regular use. Search capability is nice, but to be expected from Google.
Marketing guys at Google combined the buzz created by the limitation of accounts being by invitation only, as well as using that time to test the beta service, and increase service base gradually. Pure genius. Well, I remember I got my invititation by giving up some hard earned cash to purchase it on the eBay. The days of limited number of invites per user are long gone, and even I have 50 left...So, if you are in a need of Gmail invite drop me a line via comment feature on this blog, and I will send you invite promptly. I promise you, it will change your email habits...
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Software too complex?
This is just one of those things... Either I am loosing my brain cells from staring at my monitor too long, or the software is simply getting too complex. It's probably both. The most recent challenge came from Adobe Acrobat Professional 7.0. (I am not implying that version 6.0 was much better - as a matter of fact I preordered version 7.0 in hopes of getting some bugs fixed in version 6.0). Don't get me wrong, I love new features, but there is a point where "new features" become hindrance.
We had to create some new forms for our employees to fill out. Our graphics guy designed them in Corel, transferred them to PDF, and authored fields and textboxes to be filled out. Worked great. Then someone noticed that tabbing order was not very logical. By hitting TAB, you go to next available fill-in filed. We are used to moving from left to right, then back to the left on the next line, similar to the letter z pattern. Even though he created the first row, and copied it to create second, and so on, only the first two rows worked properly. Where is the logic here?
Our graphics guy came to me for help in figuring out how to correct the field tabbing order. It certainly seemed like a simple problem. The printed manual was joke. We tried built in help. It was of no help. Searched online. No go. Finally, I just started clicking around and trying different things, until we got it to work. It is really sad that we have to rely on trial and error to solve issues like this. One would think that company like Adobe would be able to design a help system so that a person that does not know the exact search term would still be able to find the answer.
I know from personal experience that writing help files or technical instructions, can present great challenges as new user might not be familiar with lingo, acronyms, etc. Again, if this was some freeware software published by a guy in his spare time, I'd understand, but shouldn't large software publishers (especially ones charging $500 for a software title) held to a higher standard? Don't get me wrong, my point here is not to pick on Adobe, as they are hardly alone...
We had to create some new forms for our employees to fill out. Our graphics guy designed them in Corel, transferred them to PDF, and authored fields and textboxes to be filled out. Worked great. Then someone noticed that tabbing order was not very logical. By hitting TAB, you go to next available fill-in filed. We are used to moving from left to right, then back to the left on the next line, similar to the letter z pattern. Even though he created the first row, and copied it to create second, and so on, only the first two rows worked properly. Where is the logic here?
Our graphics guy came to me for help in figuring out how to correct the field tabbing order. It certainly seemed like a simple problem. The printed manual was joke. We tried built in help. It was of no help. Searched online. No go. Finally, I just started clicking around and trying different things, until we got it to work. It is really sad that we have to rely on trial and error to solve issues like this. One would think that company like Adobe would be able to design a help system so that a person that does not know the exact search term would still be able to find the answer.
I know from personal experience that writing help files or technical instructions, can present great challenges as new user might not be familiar with lingo, acronyms, etc. Again, if this was some freeware software published by a guy in his spare time, I'd understand, but shouldn't large software publishers (especially ones charging $500 for a software title) held to a higher standard? Don't get me wrong, my point here is not to pick on Adobe, as they are hardly alone...
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Here I come..
I've been online since 1993, but have for some unexplained reason (stubbornness, aversion to change, hmmm...I could name hundreds of reasons) been resisting blogs. It appears that is about to change. Not that I have much to contribute (other than my ramblings about this and that). I think the reason for me doing this is simply to see what all the fuss is about.
Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself: My name is Zrinko and I am a technoholic. I am sure that Webster Dictionary would not approve the word choice, but technocolic is a good term to describe me. I really like all things computer, as well as other gadgets that may be associated with computers in any way.
I plan on posting regularly, mostly my thoughts on new computer equipment, news, software, as well as other random ideas.
Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself: My name is Zrinko and I am a technoholic. I am sure that Webster Dictionary would not approve the word choice, but technocolic is a good term to describe me. I really like all things computer, as well as other gadgets that may be associated with computers in any way.
I plan on posting regularly, mostly my thoughts on new computer equipment, news, software, as well as other random ideas.
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