Protect Yourself Against Laptop Theft

Laptop theft is a popular crime because they’re so easy to steal and sell.  People have their laptops with them almost everywhere they go these days including airports, restaurants, coffee shops, libraries, etc.  It only takes a second to walk away with one and, criminals have no problem reselling them on the street, at flea markets, pawn shops, used computer shops, etc.

To protect yourself, make sure you don’t leave your laptop unattended in a public place. It’s also a good idea to install a laptop alarm or security software which actually uses GPS to locate where your laptop was taken after it was stolen.  The following companies have some good products available. 

http://www.lalarm.com/en/LAlarm_Laptop_Alarm.htm

Download for LAlarm laptop alarm application

LAlarm is free laptop security software.  It sounds an alarm when a laptop is in danger of being stolen, and it can also recover and destroy data if the laptop is stolen.  It has five different alarms and includes other security functions designed to protect laptops and your data. 

http://www.absolute.com/products/lojack

Absolute Software-Computrace lojack for laptops

LoJack by Absolute Software helps track, locate, and recover a stolen laptop.  If your computer is stolen, you contact LoJack customer service.  They trace your computer to determine who has it, and then work with the police to recover and return it to you.  The software also has the ability to remotely delete all of your personal files from the hard drive to keep the thieves from stealing your identity.  The standard edition is $39.99 per year and the premium edition is $59.99 per year. 

http://www.locatemylaptop.com/

Locate My Laptop

Locate My Laptop is another service that helps track and locate stolen laptops.  It also has the ability to remotely delete data from your laptop to prevent identity theft.  They have a free plan and a premium plan, with more features, that is $33.00 a year. 

http://www.laptopcopsoftware.com/?gclid=CP-q-9Ta7J0CFQpinAodZ2amLw

Laptop Cop

If your laptop is stolen, you log in to your account and report it as stolen.  Once you’ve done that, you can retrieve and/or delete files.  You contact their customer support to begin the physical recovery process.  If you buy the full monitoring plan, you can see all of the thief’s actions on your computer, including personal logins, emails, instant messages, keystrokes, screenshots, etc.  You can also have customer service lock down the stolen computer so that the thief can’t use it. A one year license is $49.95.

http://www.gadgettrak.com/

Gadget Trak

GadgetTrak helps protect your laptop from theft by using tracking technology to locate the precise location of your PC if it is stolen.  Whenever your PC is moved to a new location, GadgetTrak detects this and sends information directly to you including the IP address, internal network address, host names as well as location and ISP data.  A one year license is $24.95.

computer repair

computer service

Firefox Fake Security Alerts

G Data, a German antivirus company, recently discovered a Trojan that causes Firefox users to get fake security warnings.  The fake security alert looks much like the genuine security alerts, so be careful.  The genuine alert does not ask you to download virus protection. 

Firefox Fake Security Alert

Firefox Genuine Security Alert

If the fake alert pops up, it means your computer is infected with the Trojan already, and you should update your antivirus and do a full scan.  If you click on the get virus protection button, you will be directed to the website where the criminals do business, so they can trick you into giving them your credit card information.

Call Computer Fixx for all your computer repair and computer service needs.

Computers–Brand Name Versus Custom Built

Custom Built Computers

It’s definitely easier to buy a name brand computer. You just go to your local electronics store and choose one. However, if consumers realized just how much better a custom built computer can be, brand name manufacturers might lose a lot of customers.

Brand name computers are designed so that when technology advances, you have to buy a new computer or just live with the old one. The parts inside these computers are made as cheaply as possible to hold down costs. If one of these parts fails, you have to buy a replacement from the manufacturer because the computer is built so that other parts won’t work. The manufacturer charges more for replacement parts because the consumer can’t purchase them anywhere else.

These manufacturers often cut corners on features that consumers wouldn’t normally think to ask about like cache memory size, bus speed, and hard drive speed. For example, a manufacturer may advertise a 3.2 GHz processor, but won’t mention that it only has 1 MB of cache memory, which effectively makes the machine slower than a 2.6 GHz processor with 4 MB of cache memory.

The power supplies in the brand name systems are usually inadequate. They usually come with a power supply that is just strong enough to run the system as it is in the box, without giving the consumer any extra power for when he adds components or upgrades to the machine.  Inadequate power supplies can cause your system to crash.

These manufacturers also load your computer’s new hard drive with bundled junkware. This software slows down the performance of your PC, as much of it runs in the background, and takes up space on your hard drive. This bloatware uses nag screens to try to get you to upgrade to the fully functioning version. This shovelware can be time consuming to remove. That’s why Best Buy charges $40.00 to remove it for you.

Custom built computers, on the other hand, can be upgraded and enjoyed for approximately 3 to 5 years. They contain higher quality parts that are easily replaced if they fail. You can purchase parts from a variety of different manufacturers, and each of these parts has a 1-year warranty. If it fails, you can return it for repair or replacement.

These computers can be serviced anywhere, as the system is filled with universal parts that are easily found. You can customize each piece and buy exactly what you need without wasting money on features you don’t need.

The hard drive is clean and free of crapware. They also contain a full retail version of Windows with product license and full Microsoft technical support. There are also so many beautiful cases and case modifications to choose from. Your computer can truly look, and be, unique when you custom build.

The downside to purchasing a custom-built computer is that you either have to build it yourself or find a local computer shop that builds them. There are also some quality places to buy custom builds from online.

Custom builds also cost a bit more, and it usually takes a week or more for the computer to be built. In addition, most custom builds are desktops. It is possible to custom build a laptop, but it is more difficult to find places that do it. However, in spite of the downside, once you have used a quality custom computer, it’s difficult to settle for anything else.

Computer Files–Deleted Does Not Mean Gone

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MALWARE

Fake Antivirus–XP Deluxe Protector, Antivirus 2009

All About Viruses

 Be careful of the fake antivirus malware going around the Internet.  These programs go by many different names, but the two I’ve seen a lot of lately are Antivirus 2009 and XP Deluxe Protector.   

This malware usually gets into your computer because of or with the Zlob and/or Vundo Trojans.  Once it’s inside your computer, you get multiple pop-ups telling you that your computer is infected, and you are urged to run a “free” virus scan. 

If you click to run the “free” scan, a fake scan window pops up that shows your computer is infected with many dangerous threats.  If you click to “remove” these threats, you are told that you have to purchase the full version for $49.99.  

Whether you click on the fake scan button or not, once you start seeing these pop-ups, the only way to make them stop is to remove the malware. 

One recent customer, unfortunately, thought he was purchasing legitimate antivirus software and gave these criminals his name, address and all of his credit card information.  So not only did this poor guy have a computer filled with malware, his credit card information was in the hands of criminals. 

If you click the button to “purchase” it, you are redirected to the website where the criminals do business. It’s not safe to go to these sites, as they are all corrupt.

To minimize your risk, don’t download anything online, or click on links in e-mails or on websites, unless you’re sure of where it’s coming from.  Keep your antivirus up-to-date and make sure it scans regularly.  Make sure you have all of the latest service packs and up-dates from Microsoft.

Glenn Caton–Computer Fixx

Junkware, Bloatware, Shovelware

Junkware, Bloatware, Shovelware

July 5, 2009 by Glenn Caton–Computer Fixx

These colorful, and rather amusing, terms all describe the annoying pre-loaded software that major computer vendors add to the computers you buy from them.  I talked with a salesperson at Best Buy recently and asked him if I could purchase a new PC in the store that didn’t come pre-loaded with this software.  The answer was no.  He told me that the amount of bloat varies from vendor to vendor but all brands contain it.

The sales person also admitted that these programs significantly slow the computer down.  They cause pop-up screens and longer boot times, as some of this junk loads on startup and constantly runs in the background, taking up memory and hard drive space and slowing your new PCs performance by 5 to 10 percent.  Some of these programs connect to the Internet, without your knowledge, to check for updates.

You can pay Best Buy $40.00 to remove this junk.  It’s what they call optimization.  That’s also, approximately, what local computer shops charge to remove it. 

I looked at the desktop on one of the computers in Best Buy while I was there.  I saw icons for:

Google Desk Top

Amazon.com

Net Zero

Microsoft Office 60-day trial

Norton 360

Picasa 2

Wild Tangent Games

Quick Books

eBay

Skype

Music Man Jukebox

Of course, that’s just what I could see on the desktop.  There are also varying amounts of bloatware on the startup menu, in the add/remove programs, and in the program files.  

Some people try to get rid of the problem by wiping the hard drive and installing a fresh version of Windows.  However, that’s not going to help because these machines receive a restore disc that contains a copy of the hard drive’s setup as it came from the factory–with all the junkware installed.

Others don’t even come with the disc, but rather have an area on the hard drive set aside to restore files.  Again, this returns the PC to its original configuration, complete with junkware.  This means that even if you do pay to have it removed, or you spend the hour or so necessary to manually remove it yourself, it will all come back if you ever have to reinstall your operating system at any time in the future. 

Money is the reason for all of this bloatware.  Computer manufacturers are paid to load your new PC with junk.  These big corporations do whatever they have to do to keep prices down and turning your desktop and hard drive into a giant commercial is one way to do so.  They know that most consumers won’t complain or even realize that their new computer has been compromised.

Of course, if you ask these vendors why they put all this extra junk on new PCs, they’ll tell you, if they will agree to talk about it at all, that they are providing a service to the consumer by giving them access to trial versions of these programs.  That’s sure one way to spin it. If they are really interested in doing consumers a favor, why don’t they add full versions of free programs like openoffice.org, instead of a trial version of Microsoft Office 2007? 

If you aren’t in a hurry for a new PC, you can have one of the same vendors that sell computers to Best Buy custom build one for you online.  I spoke to someone in customer service at Dell who said if I bought directly from them, that I could request that all the bundled trialware be removed.   She said that the only trialware that was mandatory was a 30-day antivirus.  Customer service at Sony said that if I ordered online from them, and ordered a laptop that was 14” or smaller, I could request something they call “Fresh Start”, which means that it won’t contain any bloat.  She said that “Fresh Start” wasn’t available on 15, 16, or 18-inch laptops.  Finally, I spoke to customer service at Hewlett Packard and was told that if you order online from them most of the trialware can be removed, but she couldn’t guarantee that all of it would. 

My personal favorite way to avoid all the junk is to either build your computer yourself or buy a custom-built PC.  If you prefer a brand name, you could also consider a system targeted for business.  The vendors don’t load nearly as much junk onto these systems.  The downside is they cost more.  For example, I just optimized a Lenovo and the only trialware that came pre-installed on the hard drive was McAfee antivirus and Microsoft Office 2007. 

One thing is for sure, if you buy a PC that contains bloatware, you are going to have to put up with pop-up screens, longer boot times, slower system performance, and maybe even some of these programs connecting to the internet to check for updates, if you don’t either remove it yourself or have it removed.

As more and more consumers start to realize that this junk is taking up space and slowing down system performance, maybe they will complain in sufficient numbers to cause change. 

Could this trend spread to other areas?  Maybe, the next time I buy a TV, the manufacturer will have pre-installed software that makes pop-up commercials appear on my screen when I turn it on or randomly while I’m watching a show.  Maybe they will install a scroll bar that constantly runs at the top or bottom of the screen.  Will this be how sponsors keep consumers from fast forwarding past the commercials with a DVR?