Tech Stuff in a Non-Tech Sort of Way

In this issue

My Blog 
Some Recent Entries
Just To Let You Know 
Latest Security Alert

Windows Tip
Free Software to take the place of Expensive Software
Question of the Month



Prior Newsletter Issues
Issue #1
Issue #2
Issue #3
Issue #4
Issue #5
Issue #6
Issue #7
Issue #8

Here are some recent entries from my blog that you might find interesting.

Safe Surfing with WOT (Web of Trust)
Fear of Viruses Could be Causing PC Attacks
Easter Eggs (It's not what your think)
Dell & HP Balk at Replacing Bad Video Chip
Learn a Foreign Language 10 Words at a Time

Check these out and more - http://blog.askbillfirst.com.

Adobe Reader is under attack again

Adobe Systems Inc. today confirmed that it's investigating reports that its popular PDF viewing software, Adobe Reader, contains a critical vulnerability.

All currently supported shipping versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat, [Versions] 9.1, 8.1.4 and 7.1.1 and earlier, are vulnerable to this issue. In lieu of a patch, Adobe recommendeds that users disable JavaScript in Reader and Acrobat by selecting Preferences from the Edit menu, choosing "JavaScript," then unchecking the "Enable Acrobat JavaScript" option.

My recommendation is to use a different viewer, such as Foxit Reader. It's free and much quicker than Adobe Reader and will open all PDF files.

Conficker.C - Update

What happened with Conficker on April 1? Was it a bust? Was it much ado about nothing? The simple answer is - it depends. Many of us in the U.S. took the warning to heart and patched our computers with the recommended Microsoft patch MS08-067 so we were safe. Most of the computers that were infected were from countries where unlicensed operating systems are used and therefore unpatched.

That doesn't mean that we were all smart enough to patch our computers. 11% of computers tested still haven't installed the patch and Conficker.C has become active the past couple of days in terms of beginning to try and lure victims to fake anti-virus sites with internet pop-ups to get victims to pay $50 or so for software to get rid of Conficker.C.

There is a simple "eye chart" that will tell you if your comptuer is infected. You can run it here. If you're computer is infected, you can download a removal tool here.

If you've purchased a computer at any time, you are familiar with the lovely "Trial Period" software that comes pre-installed. These most likely include an Anti-virus program and Microsoft Office. These trial periods last anywhere between 30 and 90 days and then the programs will stop running/updating until you purchase them. Perhaps you need to create PDF files and don't want to spend $300 for Adobe Acrobat.

There are several free alternatives to use that are also compatible with the more expensive programs.

Instead of Microsoft Office at $350, you can download and run OpenOffice. OpenOffice includes word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, graphic and database applications that are compatible with MS Office so you can save your work and send it to those with MS Office and they can open it. You can also open files created by others in MS Office.OpenOffice also gives you the ability to create PDF files.

If you already have MS Office and need to create PDF files, instead of buying Adobe Acrobat for $300, you can install CutePDF. This program installs as a printer driver and allows you to create PDF files by printing to it and saving the files. If you need to do more advanced things,  CutePDF Professional sells for $50 and will allow greater PDF functionality.

For Anti-Virus, the problem with the programs that come installed on the computer are that they usually have so much bloat that they create problems due to their size. While it's critical to have anti-virus and a firewall on your computer, you can have very solid protection with these free programs: Avast Anti-Virus, AVG Anti-Virus, Comodo Firewall.

One other program I'd highly recommend, especially if you work with audio files, is Audacity. Audacity is free software for recording and editing sound files. It is available for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. It allows you to convert and save your audio files to different formats as well.

Question of the month
This month's question is "I was told that my computer doesn't have enough memory but I hardly have any programs on it. How can this be?"

It's very easy to confuse computer memory with hard disk space. The computer's hard disk is the first thing people think of when they hear the word memory, and yes, it is a sort of memory called permanent memory. This is where you install your programs, such as your word processing program, your operating system (Windows), your internet browser, your email program, and they live on your computer. It's called "permanent" memory because as long as your computer is working, those programs are there until you uninstall them.

The other kind of memory is what the person was referring to when they said you needed more memory. This is known as "temporary" memory. It used to be known as RAM, or Random Access Memory, but not so much any more. This memory is used by the computer when you call up one of the programs that are stored on your computer. When you see an open program on your screen, it's open in RAM. This memory is supposed to help keep your open programs running smoothly, but because so many things are going on on your computer, sometimes the memory gets confused and you run into problems, like a slow computer, or program crashes, or computer lockups. The more memory (RAM) your computer has installed, the easier it is for the programs to stay running smoother.

By rule of thumb, for Windows XP, you should have a minimum of 1GB of memory and for Windows Vista, 1.5 to 2 GB is recommended. You can visit www.crucial.com to see how much memory is installed on your computer and to see how much you can add. As inexpensive as memory is, you'll notice a huge difference in speed and functionality of your computer.

If you have any questions about how all of this works, let me know. I'd be happy to discuss this.

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