Upcoming Meetings

General Meeting 
Tues.June 04, 2013. @ 7:00pm
General Meeting and More
Board Meeting   
Tues., May 14, 2013 @ 3pm   
All members welcome.
Mac Users SIG
May 27, 2013

Bob Mugge reports

This may have been reported before, but I send this as a reminder.  If you get an e-mail appearing to come from NACHA regarding an ACH bank transaction that was cancelled, do NOT click on the link to the transaction report!  Both NACHA and Snopes report these e-mails as bogus. This e-mail does not come from NACHA.  They do not send e-mails to individuals.  NACHA does have a website and requests that fradulent e-mails be forwarded to them.   I tried that, but the Charter postmaster won't send it.  Funny, when they let it come to me in the first place!

Bob Mugge
 

RE-ARRANGING PHOTOS IN WINDOWS 7 "LIBRARY/PICTURES" FOLDERS

  

A TVCUC member told me recently that she could not re-arrange her pictures in the Windows 7 "Library/Pictures" folder, for re-numbering purposes, as can be done in the Windows XP "My Pictures" folders. Indeed, I checked and found that Windows 7 was designed to work that way, and is not user-changeable, as delivered. Upon checking further, I found that there is at least one way to get around that issue if it is a problem for you, by using a downloadable "Windows 7 - Explorer Auto Arrange - Disable" feature. The "Disable Auto-Arrange" feature can also be reset to re-enable "Explorer's Auto-Arrange" default, if and when you wish to do so.
  
The process involves the following major steps:
 

Hacking story

Great article  

All about how a gmail account was hacked and what could be done about it.

Basic Protection Information

This article says if you keep your firewall turned on and update all your software regularly, you will not get infected.  Unless, of course, you do something stupid.

PERIODIC PROMPTS FOR SOFTWARE UPDATES -- ACCEPT OR REJECT?

I am asked frequently, "Should I accept prompts for program updates that appear periodically on my computer? -- usually at, or shortly after, turn-on time.” That is a good and fair question. My responsive advice is usually as follows:

1. The purpose of program legitimate updates is usually to correct real or potential software problems or add one or more new program features.

The best advise is to do as Nancy Reagan famously said, "Just Say No!"

At the September club meeting Jim Peterson gave a presentation of Scareware and what you should do and know about it.

Here's some links for information about it:

What is Scareware - About.com

How to avoid Scareware - PC Magazine

Scareware makes cybercrooks hundreds of millions - Consumer Threat Alerts 
 

How does my computer get infected???

Here's Bob Rankin (Read more: http://askbobrankin.com/why_did_my_computer_get_a_virus.html#ixzz1UdszyfAf") talking about how our computers get infected:

"There are many ways a computer can become infected by a virus, Trojan, spyware, or other malware. Many of them depend on your cooperation, or at least your inattention. Below are some of the most common ways that your computer can get infected, and suggestions for preventing it.

Clicking without questioning is one of the best ways to get a virus. Whether browsing the Web or installing new software, many people just "follow the prompts" given to them by a Web site or installation program. Malware distributors take advantage of this mindless behavior, prompting users to ploys that seem crude but actually work quite often.

A favorite trick is to pre-check "permission" buttons in installation programs, implying that the "default" thing to do is accept whatever malware-laden toolbar or add-on program that is offered.

Scare tactics are often used to induce hasty clicks. A pop-up window may scream, "YOUR PC IS INFECTED!" and urge you to click for a cure. Often the "cure" is really the disease, which did not exist on install" is another con that malware pushers use. ("Doohickey" is a made-up name, not a real plug-in.)"

Click on the read more link to see a great chart for protecting yourself on the internet!
 

REMOTE COMPUTER CONTROL / ASSISTANCE

Those of us who occasionally assist family members or friends by telephone to resolve computer problems will know that it is sometimes very difficult to accurately interpret their verbal description of problem symptoms.   Indeed, a picture is often worth 1,000 words!  The ability to see what they see, and browse their computer with your own computer mouse and keyboard can be a major help to relieve mutual frustration and, hopefully, get to the root cause(s) of their PC problem quickly.  To have such "remote computer control" capability, one can use the Windows "Remote Desktop Connection", but it is a bit "involved", especially for novices.  The good news is that there are several on-line methods available to do so easily.  The not-so-good news is that most of them are intended for businesses, have features and capabilities that go well beyond the needs of home computer users, and are very expensive.  The on-line method that I have been using for several months is called "LogMeIn".  Although the paid version (Pro2 account) also contains features that go beyond the needs of home computer users, the FREE version is easy for home computer users to install and to use.  If you are interested in having this capability, please read further about how you can do it.
 

Learn about Malware.

Here's an excellent article from MIT's Technology Online about malware and the companies that make it.   

" Not long after Prince William and Kate Middleton exchanged vows on April 29, a 1981 wedding portrait of the groom's late mother, Princess Diana, appeared as one of the top three images for people typing the most popular search term on Google that morning: "royal wedding coverage." But the link was a trip wire. Fraud artists had finagled a malicious website through Google's algorithm. The link led to a hacked page on a Web comic book called Kiwiblitz.com, which redirected the browser to another site—one with a domain name from an obscure Australian island territory and hosted in Sweden. That site displayed a realistic-looking program called "XP Anti-Spyware" that issued bogus warnings—Your Computer Is Infected! A few clicks led to a purported solution, for $59.95: a download of a fix that didn't actually exist.

Chalk up another success for what's generally known as the "fake antivirus" scam. Federal investigators and security experts estimate that its various iterations have extracted at least $1 billion from victims in the past several years,..."

 

COMPUTER RESTORATION SOFTWARE -- TO HAVE AND TO HOLD!

Circumstances sometimes make it necessary, or perhaps just highly desirable, to reformat a computer hard drive, and/or reinstall the operating system, unique component drivers, third-party software and data into an otherwise serviceable computer.  But it can be very frustrating to a computer owner / user or a technician to discover that the required original operating system, unique component drivers, installed third-party program software disks, associated software key-codes and data are lost, or otherwise unavailable when needed.  Restoring a computer to it's original software configuration, followed by updating to it's most recent / current operating configuration, requires that the original software be available from somewhere.  Please read more about important things to watch for, and some helpful suggestions.
 
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