What Killed My PC? - Part 1

Over the next couple of articles I will deal in some detail with the cause of many of the pc failures I encounter. If you take the time to read the articles and solutions you should be able to extend the life of your computer. This month I will deal with the hidden pc killer lurking in your home!

Hidden PC Killer
You can’t see it, you can’t smell it but in the blink of an eye it will attack your computer and render it scrap metal. The hidden pc killer lurking in your home is hiding behind your power plugs - Its’ electricity.

Your Computer and Power
Unlike some electrical items, such as your electric cooker or microwave, your pc does not need the full level of power provided by the ESB. To reduce the power down the computer uses a power supply. If you have a laptop you can see your power supply it’s that small black box that connects between the pc and the power plug. The power supply is the heart of your system and once damaged your pc will not turn on.

Electrical Problems
The quality of electricity provided by the ESB is subject to environmental conditions and the demands placed on the grid. Both of these can cause serious electrical problems in the form of surges, spikes, brownouts and cuts. All of these conditions result in poor electrical supply which is poison to your computer and has the potential to damage your power supply. In severe cases the problem passes through your power supply and your memory, hard disk or motherboard sustain damage. When these problems occur it is rare to observe any indication that it has happened. You won’t see sparks, blue flashes, or smell burning but you may notice the lights flicker or dim. Electrical problems will damage not only your computer but will take out your broadband modem/router and I’ve seen this numerous times. These problems are not rare and occur fairly frequently. During storm conditions, common here on the east coast, the power levels can drop and sometimes there are multiple short term electrical power cuts. Each time these conditions occur they may also been accompanied by surges and spikes.

Symptoms Of Electrical Damage
Electrical damage to your pc can take two forms. The easiest to identify is component failure. Simply put your pc refuses to turn on and the power light is off. The second form of electrical damage results in what I term as a “walking wounded” computer. In this form one or more of your components is damaged but the pc will turn on and function. After several weeks or months the damage component will fail and you are left scratching your head as to the cause.

Preventing Electrical Damage
The simplest and most effective steps to prevent electrical damage are as follows:
1.Purchase good quality surge protectors designed to protect your computer and electronic equipment. I recommend Belkin surge protectors but surge protectors by APC are also of good quality. Don’t skimp here and buy cheap ones as they are a waste of money and simply do nor work. Electrical problems can also travel down the phone line and when purchasing surge protectors you can also protect your broadband modem with one equipped with phone line protection. Don’t forget to buy one for the big screen television if you have one.
2.Turn off and disconnect your computer and other sensitive components during stormy conditions particularly if you see lighting or the lights dim. Leave it off during the storm.

Battery Backup Systems (UPS)
My own systems, and the computers I repair ,are protected not only by surge protection but I also use backup battery systems which are called UPS's. This stands for uninterruptible power supply. A battery backup not only provides emergency power in a power cut but also provides surge protection. The models I use, from APC, monitor the power and alert me with a warning signal whenever they cut in to protected my systems from an abnormal electrical condition. During the winter months I hear this alarm quite frequently and only last night(Sun 28th June,2009) I heard the alert beep. Less than a minute later there was a short power cut. Once again my trusty APC backup saved me! If you run a business from home I recommend you protect your computer with a ups.

Ed Note: (I posted this article on the 29th in the morning by the afternoon I had my first call for a machine that was damaged during the aftermentioned power cut.)

Conclusion :

Electrical damage to your computer can and does result in expensive repairs and in many cases it is not cost effective to repair the machine. You can reduce your exposure to this threat by spending as little as 25 euro. By investing in proper protection you will extend the life of your electronic components and save yourself a heap of cash in the long run

Protect Yourself From Internet Fraud – Expanded Version

This month I’ll be giving you some tips on how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud on the internet. I’ve seen a marked rise in the number of cases recently and in one case over a €1,000 had been charged against the victims’ credit card before they realized it. If you follow the steps outlined you should be able to avoid this unpleasant and costly experience.

Identifying Possible Attacks

The three primary fraud methods currently in vogue are : Unsolicited email invitations, virus-spyware infections, and fake websites. I’ll deal with each of these in turn and outline the preventative steps to avoid them. Before I do a word on anti-virus software which is your primary defence against virus attacks.

Anti-Virus Software

Here are a couple of simple truths about anti-virus software. Firstly free anti-virus products will not protect your computer from a serious virus attack. Secondly do not rely on a computer shop assistant to advise you on what anti-virus/security tools you should buy. They are not technicians and their advice, for the most part, is worthless.

Lastly do not rely on so called “computer whiz kids” to advise you on your anti-virus needs as a “little knowledge is dangerous”.

Email Fraud

Email fraud attempts to get you to hand over your money in exchange for a supposed greater reward. In the past these included inheritance scams but today the criminal may use other less well known methods.

Prevention: Do not in any way engage the sender of the suspected fraudulent email. Do not open the email, browse to any included web links, or view any attachments that came with the message. If you inadvertently open the email turn off the pc, disconnect it from the internet, and seek professional advice immediately. It takes less than a second for your machine to become infected so don’t take chances.

Virus-Spyware Infections

Virus and spyware infections increasingly use two methods to defraud the victim. The first is to get you to pay for their virus/spyware removal tool by scaring you into thinking your machine is near the point of collapse. The second method is to install software to steal financial details on your computer.(commonly referred to as hacking). Once the criminal gets hold of your information it will be almost instantly used to purchase good/services.

Prevention As with the fraudulent email immediately shutdown the pc and disconnect it from the internet. Seek professional advice, contact your credit card company/bank and cancel or suspend your card.

Fake Websites

Increasingly used as a quick method to get your credit card/bank details the criminal will attempt to get you to reveal your account details by sending you an email asking you to visit the website to confirm your details.

The fake website will look and act like your online banking/credit card site or it may be a fake social networking site. If your machine has been hacked then there is no need for the email they simply redirect you to the site and wait for you to attempt to login. As with the other attacks you will be unaware that your security has been compromised.

Prevention:It is extremely difficult to counteract this type of attack but if you are suspicious do not login. The same rules apply here as with other attacks seek professional help as soon as you detect suspicious activity.

Recommendations

• Avoid all illegal gaming, gambling, video, music and adult content sites.
• Do not install Limewire ,Bearshare or other internet sharing programs and do not download any illegal content from the internet.
• Install and use Firefox as your primary program for browsing the internet.
• Do not allow your computer to be used by anyone particularly teenage visitors to your home.
• Purchase and Install a solid anti-virus program (I recommend support and sell Escan Anti-Virus software)
• Have your machine checked if you suspect any type of virus or spyware infection.

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Protect Yourself From Internet Fraud – Expanded Version

This month I’ll be giving you some tips on how you can protect yourself from becoming a victim of fraud on the internet. I’ve seen a marked rise in the number of cases recently and in one case over a €1,000 had been charged against the victims’ credit card before they realized it. If you follow the steps outlined you should be able to avoid this unpleasant and costly experience.

Identifying Possible Attacks

The three primary fraud methods currently in vogue are : Unsolicited email invitations, virus-spyware infections, and fake websites. I’ll deal with each of these in turn and outline the preventative steps to avoid them. Before I do a word on anti-virus software which is your primary defence against virus attacks.

Anti-Virus Software

Here are a couple of simple truths about anti-virus software. Firstly free anti-virus products will not protect your computer from a serious virus attack. Secondly do not rely on a computer shop assistant to advise you on what anti-virus/security tools you should buy. They are not technicians and their advice, for the most part, is worthless.

Lastly do not rely on so called “computer whiz kids” to advise you on your anti-virus needs as a “little knowledge is dangerous”.

Email Fraud

Email fraud attempts to get you to hand over your money in exchange for a supposed greater reward. In the past these included inheritance scams but today the criminal may use other less well known methods.

Prevention: Do not in any way engage the sender of the suspected fraudulent email. Do not open the email, browse to any included web links, or view any attachments that came with the message. If you inadvertently open the email turn off the pc, disconnect it from the internet, and seek professional advice immediately. It takes less than a second for your machine to become infected so don’t take chances.

Virus-Spyware Infections

Virus and spyware infections increasingly use two methods to defraud the victim. The first is to get you to pay for their virus/spyware removal tool by scaring you into thinking your machine is near the point of collapse. The second method is to install software to steal financial details on your computer.(commonly referred to as hacking). Once the criminal gets hold of your information it will be almost instantly used to purchase good/services.

Prevention As with the fraudulent email immediately shutdown the pc and disconnect it from the internet. Seek professional advice, contact your credit card company/bank and cancel or suspend your card.

Fake Websites

Increasingly used as a quick method to get your credit card/bank details the criminal will attempt to get you to reveal your account details by sending you an email asking you to visit the website to confirm your details.

The fake website will look and act like your online banking/credit card site or it may be a fake social networking site. If your machine has been hacked then there is no need for the email they simply redirect you to the site and wait for you to attempt to login. As with the other attacks you will be unaware that your security has been compromised.

Prevention:It is extremely difficult to counteract this type of attack but if you are suspicious do not login. The same rules apply here as with other attacks seek professional help as soon as you detect suspicious activity.

Recommendations

• Avoid all illegal gaming, gambling, video, music and adult content sites.
• Do not install Limewire ,Bearshare or other internet sharing programs and do not download any illegal content from the internet.
• Install and use Firefox as your primary program for browsing the internet.
• Do not allow your computer to be used anyone particularly teenage visitors to your home.
• Purchase and Install a solid anti-virus program (I recommend support and sell Escan Anti-Virus software)
• Have your machine checked if you suspect any type of virus or spyware infection.

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Getting The Most from Your PC In a Recession Part 2

This month I’ll be giving you some tips on how you can use your pc to sell goods on the internet and also how you can use your pc to product cash budgets.

Selling Goods On The Internet
The internet, and in particular Ebay, offers you a quick and convenient way to sell your unwanted goods. Like any business there are a couple of key areas that you should be aware of before you start selling on the internet.

Getting Paid
You need a seller’s Paypal account to sell on eBay. Paypal is the preferred method for most people buying goods on eBay as it offers both the seller and buyer a degree of protection from fraud. (You’ll find a link to the Ebay seller requirements on the link page at the bottom of this article.)

Postage
Start small and avoid selling delicate items. Research what it will cost to ship your product and remember your buyer may be from anywhere in the world.
By starting with small items you will keep your first transactions simple and learn as you go. Delicate items can be easily damaged in transit so avoid then until you are confident that your packaging is up to snuff.

Packaging
This is a key point and you should pay particular attention to how you package your goods for shipping. Poorly packaged items will result in unhappy customers and this can cause problems and these include not being paid. Happy Selling!

Creating A Cash Budget On your PC
Your pc is the ideal tool for creating a budget to control and monitor your spending.
Don’t be intimidated by the thought of using your pc for budgeting. With the right software you can easily create your budget and get control of your spending. The software you will need may already be installed on your computer and if not you can download a free version from the internet. (Visit the links page at the bottom of this article to download the “free” software.)

Software You Will Need
Any of the following software packages is capable of creating your budget.:Microsoft Works , Microsoft Office Excel, and Sun Systems Open Office Spreadsheet. Open office is free for non-commercial use and if you are familiar with Microsoft Office you’ll have no trouble using Open Office. Even if you are not familiar with any of these programs virtually all contain templates for budgeting. If you use a template all that is required is for you to fill in the numbers and the template does the rest. Even if you’ve never used a spreadsheet before you will find it relatively easy to use the built-in budget templates. For a quick online budget visit www.itsyourmoney.ie and click on budgeting to use their simple online budgeting tool.


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Getting The Most from Your PC In a Recession

This month I’ll be giving you some tips on how you can get “more bang for your buck” out of your pc.

Reduce Your Printing Costs
Printing costs money in both paper, ink and electricity but you don’t need to print if your pc has a pdf print driver installed. With PDF the computer captures a print image which can be viewed on screen and printed later if required. PDF stands for Portable Document format and it was developed to enable documents to be moved or printed between computers without the requirement for the original document. The PDF format is owned by Adobe but a variety of programmers have produced generic versions of the product. Drop me an email and I will point you to where you can download these free versions which can save you a bundle on your printing needs.

Saving On Electrical Costs
Leaving your desktop computer or laptop connected to power consumes electricity even when the computer is in sleep mode.The same is also obviously true for your printer scanner and speakers. Bottom line here is turn off the equipment if you are not using it. If you don’t have a switched socket disconnect the equipment from the power outlet. Remember if you are not going to use your scanner or printer for a particular computer session don’t turn them on.

Reduce Telephone/Mobile Costs
Most people are familiar with making calls over the internet. You can save a huge amount on making internet calls but I recommend you shop around as some of the more popular programs are now over subscribed and the quality is poor. If you call/text mobiles a lot you can use some of these programs to call mobiles at a reduced rate. To save on texting use the free web text service offered by many of the mobile providers. Vodafone as an example gives you 300 free web texts a month which would cost you around 60 euro if you sent them direct from your phone.


Shopping For Bargains
Most of us love a bargain and the internet is a handy way for you to save time by checking on prices before your visit the supermarket. Take advantage of the fact that those suppliers who offer online shopping publish their prices. You can check their prices before you go to store and build yourself a shopping list accordingly. When it comes to holidays and travel I am not convinced anymore that the internet offers you the best value but it is no harm to check.

Selling Products/Services Budgeting
Next month I will discuss how you can use your pc to sell goods on the internet and also how you can use your pc to product cash budgets.

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Top Five Computer Problems - Part 2

Product Abuse
I see this mainly with laptops and the damage is totally avoidable. Laptops are delicate and should be treated as such. Follow these simple rules and you will significantly extend the life of your laptop.

Prevention: Never move your laptop while it is turned on. Do not leave your laptop turned on overnight. Do not drink or use liquids anywhere near your laptop. Purchase a solid laptop bag and, when not in use, store your laptop in the bag in a safe location.
Near leave your laptop on the floor where others may step on it or hit the screen accidentally.

Disk Failures
Often resulting from a combination of one or more of the problems outlined in this article disk failure is the most common cause of severe data loss. I am always amazed at the faith pc owners place in their hard disk.

Prevention: Avoid overloading your hard disk. Simply put these means don’t install every free internet program you come across and don’t store gobs and gobs of movies on your hard disk. An overloaded hard disk must work very hard to service the operating system and this puts excessive strain on the disk. Purchase, install and use a solid backup device capable of storing multiple copies of your data. Usb keys are handy for single copy backups but multiple copies of your data gives you a good chance of minimising the effect of a disk failure.

Heat Damage
The hidden killer of both laptops and desktops is overheating. Until recently overheating was most common on laptops but I have seen an increase in the amount of desktops with this problem. As with any electrical or mechanical device overheating can and does result in total system failure. Safeguarding against overheating is easily preventable and it will cost you nothing.

Prevention: If you hear excessive fan noise from your computer have it checked.
Ensure when placing your pc you do not block vents and avoid placement in an enclosed area. With laptops you should also take the additional precaution of disconnecting your laptop from the mains when not in use and if the laptop bottom becomes very warm to the touch turn it off, disconnect from the mains and allow to cool before using it again.

Top Five Computer Problems - Part 1

This month and next I will outline the top five problems I encounter in computers I repair. The old adage “Prevention is better than cure” applies to all these problems and you can, with a little care and a small investment, reduce the chances of you falling victim to them.

Electrical Damage

More common than you might imagine is damage due to electrical problems either within your home or when you use laptop while travelling. Most electrical damage is not obvious at the time it occurs. You won’t see sparks or smell burning but the damage is permanent. Quite often the electrical surge or power failure will result in what we technicians call “walking wounded”. By this we mean that the computer often continues to function for several days or weeks before finally failing.

Prevention: Purchase a solid dependable surge protector for your computer and always use it. With a desktop computer plug in your printer and monitor to the unit as well as these are equally at danger from electrical damage.

I recommend products by Belkin as I have yet to lose a machine protected by one to electrical damage. A Belkin model will cost you €20 for a laptop model and slightly more for a desktop pc model. Don’t skimp on your surge protector and don’t buy a “no name” brand.

Spyware/Virus Infection

One of the most common problems I see virus/spyware infection can not only disable your computer but can and does result in severe data loss. Spyware is increasingly common and more difficult to detect and remove. In severe cases there is no option but to erase the hard disk and this is costly as your data and operating system must be secured and restored during the process. Bottom line if you use Microsoft Windows and browse the web, unprotected and/or without due care, you pc will be infected by a virus or spyware. Viruses and spyware are very rare on Apple based computers due to the operating system used on these systems.

Prevention: Purchase a solid anti-virus program and seek professional advice on the best and most effective products before buying. Many commercial products are virtually useless as is witnessed by the amount of pc’s I see with these products installed but which are virus and spyware infected.

Avoid all illegal music, video, gaming, gambling and nefarious sites as they are riddled with spyware which in turn will pull viruses into your pc.