1. When you start Internet Explorer or FireFox, your default home page changes to something else.
2. You go to a site and you get a message that your computer is being scanned for viruses. This is spyware that nested itself on your computer and it wants you to click the link so that it can find out some information from you
3. You get pop-up ads, even when you are not using the Internet. Some of them have your name in them.
4. You want to search for something and after you type in the words and press Enter, or click on the Go button you are re-directed to another site.
5. Items appear in your Favorites list and they were not there before.
6. Your computer runs real slow and the applications or windows open real slow. They look like they are being painted on the screen. If you are familiar with Task Manager and you open the application you notice that there are many processes running that you have not seen before.
7. When you type in the name of a site to go to, you wind up on a different site.
8. A toolbar appears that you did not install yourself, or a toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen.
9. You notice that your hard drive light or cable modem lights start to blink very fast and often.
10. You answered yes in a box to help the vendor do research. This research could be surfing the Internet, or how you use a program.
11. You suddenly receive emails with a common theme. For example, coupons for a specific product or financial aid and credit cards by searching for college financing options.
12. Spyware has become more intelligent and not detectable. You should scan your computer at least once a week.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
15 Tips to Protect your notebook computer
The Top 15 Ways to Protect Your Computer System
Most new computer users use the computer for a specific purpose. I know of some people who use it only for e-mail. Others use it to view and print pictures that they took with their digital camera. Some people use it for doing work at home like word processing or spreadsheets. Teachers may use it to develop class plans that they do not have time to do at work.
Even though Identity Theft is in a lot of newspapers, letters from banks, TV, the Internet, most people do not protect their computer and their information. Maybe their attitude is “It can’t happen to me”. I am surprised that more than half of the home computer wireless networks in my neighborhood are not secure. Someone can have a laptop in their car and surf the internet for free. Some households can also borrow the neighbor’s Internet Service Provider (ISP) without having to pay for it themselves.
I have a little gadget that detects wireless networks. I am amazed that some small business and even schools in my area do not have a secure network. I taught an Identity Theft class in a school, and I went right onto their network without any login information. The school assumed that they were secure.
Another security concern is when someone has a laptop and they leave it unattended at the airport. When they look for it the laptop is gone. Some thieves just re-sell the laptop for quick cash. Other thieves see what type of information they can take off of the laptop. Even if the thief re-sells the laptop quickly, your personal information is still on the laptop. If the computer does not have a password on it, then anyone has immediate access to the information on the computer.
I had one customer put her laptop into her luggage and checked it in at the airline. When she arrived at the hotel and opened her case she saw that the laptop was gone. There was also a note inside that the airline inspected her luggage. Did this customer learn? No, she did it again. And to make matters worse, she was traveling with someone else. He saw that she checked her luggage with the laptop in it, and he followed suit. A big surprise here – both laptops were gone.
Home networks is another big security concern. When I see an unsecured home network I leave a flyer on their door and say that there network is not secure and for $25 I will secure it for them. I usually write the name of their network on the flyer so that they know. Four out of five people call me.
Here are some ways to help protect your computer system (they are not in any order of importance):
1. Put a password to access your computer. I would even put a power-on password which means that once you turn on the computer you need to put in a password before the computer starts up. This should not be the same password you use to login to your computer. This advice is needed for laptop users.
2. Buy a surge protector and plug all of your computer items into it. Buy one that works and has a guarantee, and not just a power strip.
3. During a thunder storm, or any storm that looks like it has an effect on power, turn the computers off. I would even unplug the surge protector from the wall. If the home is hit by lightning the house wiring can burn out computer components.
4. If you need the computer constantly on, invest in an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS). The computer can stay on up to three hours without electricity. If you have a laptop plugged into a UPS, then you have the three hours and the laptop battery time.
5. If you are connected to the Internet, wired or wireless, you must have a router with a built-in hardware firewall. You should also have a software firewall as well. Most times software scans the internet looking for vulnerable computers. It is not unlikely if you have cable, DSL, Satellite, or FIOS that your computer is not scanned 15 or more times a day. A hardware and software firewall prevents this from happening.
6. Get anti-virus software installed on your computer. If you do not want to pay for it, get a free one.
7. Install spyware removal software on your computer and run it regularly. You can just get free ones if you do not want to invest in a commercial product, although the commercial ones are better.
8. Do not have Windows remember your passwords. On my blog I recommend a product for remembering passwords.
9. In Internet Explorer and Firefox have your security settings to at least medium.
10. When traveling keep your laptop in sight. Do not check it in with your luggage.
11. When you go into a wireless café or hotel that has internet access you should have an internet security product. McAfee and Norton are pretty good. There are also a couple of free ones.
One other thing to keep in mind with a laptop is that many of them can transfer through infrared to other laptops or PDAs / cell phones. It only takes a couple of seconds to transfer your information. Credit card numbers for example are 16 characters. There is software out there that can look for a string of 16 characters, or your social security number.
12. Do not open attachments from someone you do not know.
13. If an email does not look right, do not open it. Ebay, your bank, paypal, etc. will not ask you to click on a link to update your account information. They say, log into your account and verify your information. These fake emails are phishing for your information. When you click on them it does look like the right sight, but as soon as you sign into this phishing site they have your login name and password. You should then immediately go to your site by typing in the address and change your login password. If you can change your login name do that as well.
14. Do not give your passwords out to others.
15. If someone requests to remotely access your computer make sure their software is permission based. This means that you will get a pop up window or email and you give the person permission to look at your screen. That way if you do see something wrong like looking at your emails or documents you can stop the connection between the two computers.
I hope you found this article informative. In the resource box below click on the blog link where you will find more useful hints and recommended software and hardware.
John Gontowicz
Sign Up For A Free Weekly Email Newsletter To Learn More Computer Tips For The Beginner: http://www.yourpcguide.com or send an email to computers@sendfree.com
Most new computer users use the computer for a specific purpose. I know of some people who use it only for e-mail. Others use it to view and print pictures that they took with their digital camera. Some people use it for doing work at home like word processing or spreadsheets. Teachers may use it to develop class plans that they do not have time to do at work.
Even though Identity Theft is in a lot of newspapers, letters from banks, TV, the Internet, most people do not protect their computer and their information. Maybe their attitude is “It can’t happen to me”. I am surprised that more than half of the home computer wireless networks in my neighborhood are not secure. Someone can have a laptop in their car and surf the internet for free. Some households can also borrow the neighbor’s Internet Service Provider (ISP) without having to pay for it themselves.
I have a little gadget that detects wireless networks. I am amazed that some small business and even schools in my area do not have a secure network. I taught an Identity Theft class in a school, and I went right onto their network without any login information. The school assumed that they were secure.
Another security concern is when someone has a laptop and they leave it unattended at the airport. When they look for it the laptop is gone. Some thieves just re-sell the laptop for quick cash. Other thieves see what type of information they can take off of the laptop. Even if the thief re-sells the laptop quickly, your personal information is still on the laptop. If the computer does not have a password on it, then anyone has immediate access to the information on the computer.
I had one customer put her laptop into her luggage and checked it in at the airline. When she arrived at the hotel and opened her case she saw that the laptop was gone. There was also a note inside that the airline inspected her luggage. Did this customer learn? No, she did it again. And to make matters worse, she was traveling with someone else. He saw that she checked her luggage with the laptop in it, and he followed suit. A big surprise here – both laptops were gone.
Home networks is another big security concern. When I see an unsecured home network I leave a flyer on their door and say that there network is not secure and for $25 I will secure it for them. I usually write the name of their network on the flyer so that they know. Four out of five people call me.
Here are some ways to help protect your computer system (they are not in any order of importance):
1. Put a password to access your computer. I would even put a power-on password which means that once you turn on the computer you need to put in a password before the computer starts up. This should not be the same password you use to login to your computer. This advice is needed for laptop users.
2. Buy a surge protector and plug all of your computer items into it. Buy one that works and has a guarantee, and not just a power strip.
3. During a thunder storm, or any storm that looks like it has an effect on power, turn the computers off. I would even unplug the surge protector from the wall. If the home is hit by lightning the house wiring can burn out computer components.
4. If you need the computer constantly on, invest in an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS). The computer can stay on up to three hours without electricity. If you have a laptop plugged into a UPS, then you have the three hours and the laptop battery time.
5. If you are connected to the Internet, wired or wireless, you must have a router with a built-in hardware firewall. You should also have a software firewall as well. Most times software scans the internet looking for vulnerable computers. It is not unlikely if you have cable, DSL, Satellite, or FIOS that your computer is not scanned 15 or more times a day. A hardware and software firewall prevents this from happening.
6. Get anti-virus software installed on your computer. If you do not want to pay for it, get a free one.
7. Install spyware removal software on your computer and run it regularly. You can just get free ones if you do not want to invest in a commercial product, although the commercial ones are better.
8. Do not have Windows remember your passwords. On my blog I recommend a product for remembering passwords.
9. In Internet Explorer and Firefox have your security settings to at least medium.
10. When traveling keep your laptop in sight. Do not check it in with your luggage.
11. When you go into a wireless café or hotel that has internet access you should have an internet security product. McAfee and Norton are pretty good. There are also a couple of free ones.
One other thing to keep in mind with a laptop is that many of them can transfer through infrared to other laptops or PDAs / cell phones. It only takes a couple of seconds to transfer your information. Credit card numbers for example are 16 characters. There is software out there that can look for a string of 16 characters, or your social security number.
12. Do not open attachments from someone you do not know.
13. If an email does not look right, do not open it. Ebay, your bank, paypal, etc. will not ask you to click on a link to update your account information. They say, log into your account and verify your information. These fake emails are phishing for your information. When you click on them it does look like the right sight, but as soon as you sign into this phishing site they have your login name and password. You should then immediately go to your site by typing in the address and change your login password. If you can change your login name do that as well.
14. Do not give your passwords out to others.
15. If someone requests to remotely access your computer make sure their software is permission based. This means that you will get a pop up window or email and you give the person permission to look at your screen. That way if you do see something wrong like looking at your emails or documents you can stop the connection between the two computers.
I hope you found this article informative. In the resource box below click on the blog link where you will find more useful hints and recommended software and hardware.
John Gontowicz
Sign Up For A Free Weekly Email Newsletter To Learn More Computer Tips For The Beginner: http://www.yourpcguide.com or send an email to computers@sendfree.com
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The Registry - The most important file on your computer
I recently had someone call me about their computer running slow. This customer regularly scans for viruses and spyware. They also run Disk Cleanup once a week. I ran a utility called Registry Mechanic. The Registry is a file on your computer that tracks every activity for both hardware and software.
Sometimes the registry gets too large and the computer starts slowing down.
I have arranged for $5.99 off of Registry Mechanic for up to 3 computers for my subscribers.
Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/5rqm7h
You will see an improvement in speed on your computer after running this software. Works especially well on older computers.
Have a great day!
Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/5rqm7h
John Gontowiczwww.yourpcguide.com
Sometimes the registry gets too large and the computer starts slowing down.
I have arranged for $5.99 off of Registry Mechanic for up to 3 computers for my subscribers.
Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/5rqm7h
You will see an improvement in speed on your computer after running this software. Works especially well on older computers.
Have a great day!
Here is the link: http://tinyurl.com/5rqm7h
John Gontowiczwww.yourpcguide.com
Monday, May 12, 2008
Nine Steps to Having a Clean Computer Desktop
In August of 2007 the company I was with down-sized and I was out of a job. Since then I became an ebay Powerseller in less than four months. I learned how to do this by reading Auction Profits Unleashed by Lee McIntyre and Auction Selling 101 by John Thornhill
I have also started my own business training people on how to use computers, Microsoft Office applications and Adobe Creative Suite. Other classes include How to Sell on ebay and Protecting Yourself Online. I am also fixing computers and setting up home computer networks.
I have a website www.yourpcguide.com and a free computer tips newsletter that you can subscribe to by sending an email to computers@sendfree.com. I sell a $9.99 computer ebook that is called Computers 101: The Questions You Forgot to Ask - www.yourpcguide.com/computers101.htm, and an ebook with videos called Keep Your Computer Running Longer, Stronger and Faster - www.yourpcguide.com
I was still falling short of what I was making at my job. So, I started looking at other ways to make money online. I found the greatest marketing idea of all time - in a FREE book http://tinyurl.com/67sjkx by Harvey Segal.
I also joined Wealthy Affiliate a couple of weeks ago. I needed something that would make me focus on. I was trying this and that and getting nowhere. So far following their plan I have started making money. Click here for more information.
Internet Marketing Success!
Wealthy Affiliate the most wide array of Internet marketing resources available in the World. From advertising techniques, to finding the right audiences, and choosing HOT products that sell like crazy, to 1-on-1 mentoring and coaching by Kyle and Carson. Wealthy Affiliate has everything you need to make money online.
Today’s Your Computer Connection Article:
Nine Steps to Having a Clean Computer Desktop
It seems that wherever you go online, when you want to download and save a file, they want you to save it to your desktop. The main reason they say this is so that you can easily find it. Over time this will become a big problem for you. Your computer has memory called RAM which is physically chips inside your computer. This type of memory is considered short term. You open an application and it goes into RAM. You close the application and it exits the RAM.
The problem you have is that the desktop takes up RAM. The more files on your desktop, the more RAM is taken up. This slows down the computer and sooner or later you will run out of resources and get error messages that say Virtual memory too low. Not that files on your desktop is the only reason for that error, but it contributes to it.
You have to think of the desktop as a temporary storage area. Once you download the file, install the program or read the file, then delete it off of your desktop. It is OK to have shortcuts on the desktop, but you want to keep it as clean as possible.
What do I do if I want to save the files on my desktop?
The best thing to do is to create a folder and put everything into that folder. Then, you put a shortcut to the folder on the desktop. Below are the steps to do this:
1. Double click on the My Computer icon. You may also click on the Start menu and double click on My Computer icon in the menu that opens.
2. Double click on the Drive C: icon and a list of folders and files will be displayed.
3. Click on the File menu, which is located at the top left of the screen, and select New menu option, then select Folder.
4. While the folder is highlighted type in Desktop Items and then click somewhere else on the screen. You now have a folder called Desktop Items.
5. The next step is to use your mouse and click on the Desktop Items folder icon with the right mouse button. Select the Send to menu option, then create desktop shortcut. There will be a folder icon now on your desktop called Desktop Items.
6. Now you can click and drag the files to the Desktop Items folder. Click on the icon with the right mouse button and drag the icon so that the folder Desktop Items is highlighted, release the mouse button and select the Move menu option. The file is now in the folder and not taking up RAM memory.
7. Do step 6 with all of the files that you downloaded or saved to your desktop.
8. To see the files in the Desktop Items folder double click on the folder.
9. The next time you save a file off of the Internet just save the file in the Desktop Items folder. You can also still save it to the desktop and drag the file into the Desktop Items folder.
I hope this article helped you in getting your desktop more organized. Saving memory space
is key to having a computer running more efficiently. Follow the steps above and organize your desktop now. The first time is always the hardest, but after that first time it does get easier.
John Gontowicz
Sunday, April 27, 2008
It's Goodbye to Google
It's Goodbye To Google
by Harvey Segal
You read that right.
I've told Google to push off.
Stop spidering me.
I no longer want my online business to depend on its ever
changing whims as to what makes a good or bad ranking.
I don't want to spend time collecting thousands of
backward links then find that they are probably worthless
because the anchor text does not contain a suitable
keyword, or the site does not have sufficient page rank,
or whatever the latest algorithm is.
I don't want to buy expensive cloaking tools and run the
risk of penalization.
I don't want to be bothered about whether a domain has a
static or dynamic IP address or have to use different
hosts to make a network of minisites.
What's that you say ? You don't need fancy tricks - just
provide good relevant content.
My answer ?
Nonsense.
I have a huge content site devoted solely to ClickBank,
the only one of its kind.
If you wanted to find the most relevant content for a
search on the keyword 'ClickBank' don't you think that
would be at the top ?
Well Google used to agree with you.
It was ranked number 2, with only ClickBank.com itself at
number one.
Today it is ranked ... wait for it ... number 426.
It is beaten out of sight by sites which have nothing to
do with ClickBank but happen to mention that keyword once.
I asked a search engine expert about this and he suggested
that it was due to keyword density, in other words too
many mentions of the word ClickBank.
Well that has to be the case - the site is after all a
'Complete Guide to ClickBank'
His advice - try replacing the word ClickBank occasionally
e.g. use 'CB'.
No way.
That was the last straw and became the inspiration for me
to develop a revolutionary approach to getting traffic.
It led to me being called 'The Guru who said goodbye to
Google' in the marketing forums.
And this new approach ?
It uses some of the fundamental pillars of Internet
marketing that you already know - techniques which will
never become obsolete.
But they are combined together in a new way and with a
viral twist that you won't have seen before.
It includes giving out free information in a certain way
and I show you how exactly in my book, The Ultimate
SuperTip.
And just to illustrate the principle: the book is free
and you can reproduce this article and change the URL to
point to your own rebranded version.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read the 24-page book which took the Internet by storm
http://tinyurl.com/67sjkx
by Harvey Segal
You read that right.
I've told Google to push off.
Stop spidering me.
I no longer want my online business to depend on its ever
changing whims as to what makes a good or bad ranking.
I don't want to spend time collecting thousands of
backward links then find that they are probably worthless
because the anchor text does not contain a suitable
keyword, or the site does not have sufficient page rank,
or whatever the latest algorithm is.
I don't want to buy expensive cloaking tools and run the
risk of penalization.
I don't want to be bothered about whether a domain has a
static or dynamic IP address or have to use different
hosts to make a network of minisites.
What's that you say ? You don't need fancy tricks - just
provide good relevant content.
My answer ?
Nonsense.
I have a huge content site devoted solely to ClickBank,
the only one of its kind.
If you wanted to find the most relevant content for a
search on the keyword 'ClickBank' don't you think that
would be at the top ?
Well Google used to agree with you.
It was ranked number 2, with only ClickBank.com itself at
number one.
Today it is ranked ... wait for it ... number 426.
It is beaten out of sight by sites which have nothing to
do with ClickBank but happen to mention that keyword once.
I asked a search engine expert about this and he suggested
that it was due to keyword density, in other words too
many mentions of the word ClickBank.
Well that has to be the case - the site is after all a
'Complete Guide to ClickBank'
His advice - try replacing the word ClickBank occasionally
e.g. use 'CB'.
No way.
That was the last straw and became the inspiration for me
to develop a revolutionary approach to getting traffic.
It led to me being called 'The Guru who said goodbye to
Google' in the marketing forums.
And this new approach ?
It uses some of the fundamental pillars of Internet
marketing that you already know - techniques which will
never become obsolete.
But they are combined together in a new way and with a
viral twist that you won't have seen before.
It includes giving out free information in a certain way
and I show you how exactly in my book, The Ultimate
SuperTip.
And just to illustrate the principle: the book is free
and you can reproduce this article and change the URL to
point to your own rebranded version.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Read the 24-page book which took the Internet by storm
http://tinyurl.com/67sjkx
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Top Ten Internet Explorer Tips
The Top Ten Tips Using Internet Explorer 7.0
1. By default, the old classic menu is not located on top of the window. You have to click on the Tools menu and click on Menu Bar to show it.
There is another, non-permanent way. While in Internet Explorer press the Alt key and the menu will appear at the top of the window.
Press the Alt key again, and the menu disappears.
2. There is a keyboard shortcut in Internet Explorer to go to the last web page that you viewed. Press the Alt key and then the left arrow key on the keyboard. To move forward press the Alt key and then the right arrow key on the keyboard.
3. If you want a keyboard shortcut to go between the different Tabs in Internet Explorer 7.0, press the Ctrl key and press the Tab key. You will be able to go through the Tabs, one at a time. Holding down the Shift & Ctrl key and then Tab will scroll the Tabs in reverse.
4. To go to the bottom of a web page, press the Ctrl key and press the End key. To go to the top of the web page, press the Ctrl key and press the Home key.
5. To zoom the text on a web page, press the Ctrl key and click on the + key. To zoom out, press the Ctrl key and press the – key.
6. If you wanted to add the www. and .com to a web address you typed in, press the Ctrl key and press the Enter key. For example, typing yourpcguide in the address bar and pressing the Ctrl and Enter key will change this to www.yourpcguide.com
7. To zoom in, or select what size you want to see a web page, look at the bottom right of the Internet Explorer window. Click on the number and you will see a variety of zoom in and zoom out features.
8. You may notice different colors in the security status bar in Internet Explorer 7.0. Red means that the web site security certificate is out of date. Yellow means that the certificate on the site cannot be verified. White means normal validation took place. Green means that the security certificate is valid, and the site is encrypted.
9. If you are at a website that you like and you want to keep it as a Favorite, press the Ctrl key and press the letter D. This will bring up the favorites window. You can then select where you want to save the favorite.
10. IE7 allows you to search the history of where you visited for the past four weeks. Click on the Favorites button and then click on the down arrow to the right of the History button. You can then select the Search History menu option. Type in a keyword and the results will be displayed.
Resource Box
Author: John Gontowicz
Website: http://www.yourpcguide.com
If you are interested in learning more about organizing your favorites visit http://www.yourpcguide.com/favorites.htm
Computer Tips Newsletter Subscription: computers@sendfree.com
Internet Marketing Tips Newsletter: marketingonline@sendfree.com
Do you have a computer question? yourpcguide@comcast.net
Hainesport, NJ
1. By default, the old classic menu is not located on top of the window. You have to click on the Tools menu and click on Menu Bar to show it.
There is another, non-permanent way. While in Internet Explorer press the Alt key and the menu will appear at the top of the window.
Press the Alt key again, and the menu disappears.
2. There is a keyboard shortcut in Internet Explorer to go to the last web page that you viewed. Press the Alt key and then the left arrow key on the keyboard. To move forward press the Alt key and then the right arrow key on the keyboard.
3. If you want a keyboard shortcut to go between the different Tabs in Internet Explorer 7.0, press the Ctrl key and press the Tab key. You will be able to go through the Tabs, one at a time. Holding down the Shift & Ctrl key and then Tab will scroll the Tabs in reverse.
4. To go to the bottom of a web page, press the Ctrl key and press the End key. To go to the top of the web page, press the Ctrl key and press the Home key.
5. To zoom the text on a web page, press the Ctrl key and click on the + key. To zoom out, press the Ctrl key and press the – key.
6. If you wanted to add the www. and .com to a web address you typed in, press the Ctrl key and press the Enter key. For example, typing yourpcguide in the address bar and pressing the Ctrl and Enter key will change this to www.yourpcguide.com
7. To zoom in, or select what size you want to see a web page, look at the bottom right of the Internet Explorer window. Click on the number and you will see a variety of zoom in and zoom out features.
8. You may notice different colors in the security status bar in Internet Explorer 7.0. Red means that the web site security certificate is out of date. Yellow means that the certificate on the site cannot be verified. White means normal validation took place. Green means that the security certificate is valid, and the site is encrypted.
9. If you are at a website that you like and you want to keep it as a Favorite, press the Ctrl key and press the letter D. This will bring up the favorites window. You can then select where you want to save the favorite.
10. IE7 allows you to search the history of where you visited for the past four weeks. Click on the Favorites button and then click on the down arrow to the right of the History button. You can then select the Search History menu option. Type in a keyword and the results will be displayed.
Resource Box
Author: John Gontowicz
Website: http://www.yourpcguide.com
If you are interested in learning more about organizing your favorites visit http://www.yourpcguide.com/favorites.htm
Computer Tips Newsletter Subscription: computers@sendfree.com
Internet Marketing Tips Newsletter: marketingonline@sendfree.com
Do you have a computer question? yourpcguide@comcast.net
Hainesport, NJ
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